The Blair years

[westboy]

Have they been a success or failure?

Please don't just make a sweeping rant at him just because you've read he was a crap leader on the front page of the sun and can't articulate your own opinions or back them up.

The obvious highlight that stands out is devolution and Northern Ireland but the NHS has got worse, he hasn't fulfilled his 'education education education' promise, there's too many prisoners, not enough prisons and that's before you start considering Iraq.

To his credit, he's obviously a good personality, I'd much rather than have him in a crisis than Brown, he's got a bit of charm at least, even if little substance. If you look at the fuel crisis, Blair went on TV and was able to communicate with the people, whilst Brown would probably just go into some macro-economic debate.

[bigmatelotdaz]

To be fair to Blair he succeeded in Northern Ireland better than anyone could ever have imagined, the health service is also in a much better state than in 1997.
His "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" statement however has failed, mainly due to the compensation culture of the country now. All too easy are people quick to sue the police that their hands are tied with paperwork and fear of recriminations to actually carry out some strong Policing.
The economy is now the strongest in the world, but how much of that is Brown's doing we shall soon find out.

Unfortunately for Blair he will now be remembred for Iraq and Afghanistan, not the best legacy ever, but with Bush due out of the White House this year that will not last much longer.

[westboy]

The economy was strong and that did have alot to do with Gordon Brown, who was a part of the Blair government. However I think people will remember the stealth taxes before they remember the state of the economy.