Date published: 2007/05/10
The BBC says:
Tony Blair has announced he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June. He made the announcement in a speech to party activists in his Sedgefield constituency, after earlier briefing the Cabinet on his plans.
He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been "very blessed" to lead "the greatest nation on earth".
...
In an emotional speech, Mr Blair said he had been prime minister for 10 years which was "long enough" for the country and himself.He thanked the British people for their support and apologised for when "I have fallen short".
It was for others to judge whether he had made mistakes, said Mr Blair, adding: "I have always done what I thought was right."
He said expectations had probably been "too high" in 1997, but he defended his government's record in office.
"There is only one government since 1945 that can say all of the following: more jobs, fewer unemployed, better health and education results, lower crime and economic growth in every quarter. Only one government, this one," he said.
On foreign policy, Mr Blair acknowledged the terrorist "blow back" from the "bitterly controversial" invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and he urged Britain to stay the course in the fight against terror.
"I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief," he said of his decision to support America's invasion of Iraq.
"I did what I thought was right for our country," Mr Blair said, summing up his record.
Unfortunately Blair put the best interests of the American government (not the American people) above the interests of the British people. The illegal invasion of Iraq, at the behest of Bush, was the downfall of Blair. Bush had no justification for the invasion, he wanted to do it purely for party political reasons. And so when Blair joined the foray, he had to make the evidence for war up, which he did. He is enough of a fantasist to still claim in public that it was all above board. It was not. And Iraq will go down as one of the biggest foreign policy blunders of all time. It has made the so-called war on terror much worse. So even on his only claim why the war happened, he has failed miserably. A side effect of this policy was Blair's attempt at a wholesale removal of the civil liberties of British citizens. It's unfortunate, because on most of domestic policy, Blair was far more sensible than any of the other major political players in Britain, although even here he was starting to go off the rails the last year or two.
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