Criminal, Myth or Legend
Tony Blair has always been a bit a conundrum. Superb presentation skills, a great PR man and an extraordinary ability to connect with the electorate. He also managed to keep a foot in both camps with the ‘New Labour’ vision that carried the Labour die-hards along whilst taking the wind out of the Tories’ sails, often being dubbed ‘the heir to Thatcher’. He bridged the traditional party divide so well that he went on to rule for ten years.
So why does he find himself lambasted from almost every corner of the media scrum as a grubby money-chasing charlatan, and in the more bullish media arenas, as a war criminal with the blood of thousands on his hands?
Teflon Tony still manages to shrug off these barbs and to continue making pots of filthy lucre around the world, to avoid probing questions and stall the Chilcot enquiry to the point that some wonder if we will ever see it. It is a peculiarly British disease in that we resent people who make it; people who succeed are often deemed to have some awful character flaw and need to be taken down a peg or two.
Globally, Blair is highly respected as a statesman and deal maker extraordinaire. But here at home we resent any politician, and certainly a Labour politician, who goes on to fame and fortune, expecting them to leave office and devote themselves to saving endangered bats or playing golf.
