THE BLAIR DECADE IN 10 KEY POLICY AREAS
The issue
IRAQ
The good
SADDAM has gone. Er ... that's it.
The bad
HUNDREDS of thousands dead. Anarchy, insecurity and poverty. NoWMD. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo stain conscience of West. Militarydiverted from Afghanistan. Terrorists recruited. Iran stronger.International law weaker.
What the pundits say
Telling President Bush he would help topple Saddam was thebiggest mistake of Blair's premiership, says Max Hastings in theDaily Mail, calling it 'the ultimate expression of Blair's hubris'.The more people said he was wrong, the more the Christian PMbelieved he was right, says the playwright David Hare in the NewStatesman. 'A man who arrived in politics as the voice of modernitybecame ... that most ancient and mystic of figures: a prophetunloved in his own country.' Having tried to be a bridge between theUS and Europe he ended up 'a forlorn jetty', says the Britishhistorian Niall Ferguson in the Los Angeles Times.
'Blair has been standing there ever since, feebly shadowingAmerican policy.' But Blair finds an ally in Andrew Roberts, whotells Guardian readers: 'He will go down as a great Prime Minister.It has been a breath of fresh air to see Labour stick up for freedomaround the world.'
The verdict
1/10
HEALTH
The good
WAITING lists and times cut. Big improvements in heart disease,cancer and life expectancy. Accident and emergency departmentsimproved, especially for children. NHS Direct. More, and better-paid, doctors and nurses.
The bad
STAFF demoralised, particularly by recent fiasco over juniordoctors' training and staging of nurses' pay rise. Unexpected risein hospital-acquired infections. Persistence of mixed-sex wards. Lowpriority for mental health.
What the pundits say
Matthew Parris in The Times sees 'gentle improvement in thequality of healthcare, combined with a vicious increase in cost'.David Aaronovitch, on the same page, reminds him that in 1997 somepeople were waiting two years for an operation. 'No one seriouslydisputes that in the last decade waiting times have fallen.' But TheSun takes a typically direct approach: 'You are more likely to dieof cancer in Britain than in France, Germany, Spain or Italy,'writes Fergus Shanahan. 'You don't cure breast cancer by hiring moremanagers and giving them all a new Mondeo.' Matthew D'Ancona, editorof The Spectator, says diagnosis was not matched by delivery. 'Hedid precisely the wrong thing: snarl up the health system withcentrally imposed targets and bureaucracy.'
7/10
EDUCATION
The good
INFANTS' classes limited to 30, and higher adult-child ratio.Literacy and numeracy hours. New buildings. Higher teachers' pay.Academies turning round sink schools in deprived areas.
The bad
DISCIPLINE no better. Too many tests. Secondary schools too bigwith too little to inspire less-academic pupils. Academies givingtoo much power to private sponsors.
What the pundits say
James Meikle of The Guardian says there are fewer failing schoolsnow and results have improved faster in inner cities and amongethnic minorities. 'Money has poured into the system, helping toreduce class sizes and finance a huge rebuilding programme.'
David Aaranovitch in The Times also lends support, saying that in1997 '43 per cent and 46 per cent of primary school children failedto achieve the average standards expected in maths and English'.Those figures have now halved. But Boris Johnson in The Spectatorsays: 'He campaigned on education, education, education, yetpresided over a huge growth in class differentials and decline insocial mobility, most of which can be attributed to [his]stultifying education policies.' And for Matthew Norman in TheIndependent: 'He leaves in his wake a trail of ruins, among them aneducation system still churning out the illiterate and innumerate.'
7/10
ECONOMY
The good
STABILITY: 40 consecutive quarters of economic growth. The fruitsof prosperity have been spread widely by means of full employment,the minimum wage and tax credits for children and pensioners.
The bad
PERSONAL debt high, leaving people vulnerable to a downturn.Government borrowing too high for this stage of the economic cycle,in defiance of Gordon Brown's own 'golden rule', now redefined.
What the pundits say
'We're all better off now,' says Steve Richards in TheIndependent. 'Economically, nearly everyone has more disposableincome. The poor are less impoverished and pensioners have done muchbetter.' His fellow columnist Deborah Orr says few people would daresuggest now that the free market doesn't work, but warns 'London isheaving also with poverty, disenfranchisement and nihilism'. Amodest thumbs-up comes from the former head of the Bank of England,Mervyn King. According to Samuel Brittan in the Financial Times hebelieves things are 'not so bad'. But Allister Heath in TheSpectator says the economy presented Tony Blair with a greatopportunity and he squandered it.
'Nearly all of Blair's ... economic reforms and policies havebeen either useless or downright damaging.'
9/10
CRIME
The good
MORE police and community support officers.
Quicker youth justice - one of Labour's 1997 pledges that provedsurprisingly difficult. Asbos have made a difference to manydeprived neighbourhoods.
The bad
VIOLENT crime up. Not enough on addressing 'the causes of ...'.Asbos have in some cases had the effect of turning yobs intohardened criminals.
What the pundits say
The novelist Will Self tells readers of the Evening Standard thatBlair was too ready to go on to enemy ground. 'His willingness tooutflank the Tories on repressive and unnecessary criminal justicemeasures, purely in order to make himself electable by middleEngland, did for him - in my eyes - as a serious reformer.' JonathanFreedland of The Guardian says it's worse than that: 'His endlessstream of criminal justice bills badly eroded civil liberties thathad taken hundreds of years to secure and which may never berecovered.' The Daily Mail, never truly convinced, says in a leader:'The truth is that after 10 years of Blairism, this is a countrythat is more divided, more fearful, more violent and moredisaffected.' And Suzanne Moore writes in the New Statesman: 'Ageneration has grown up acting like it owns the place, unable toshare, unwilling to agree a code of what is and is not acceptable.'
6/10
STANDARDS
The good
PARTY donations now have to be disclosed and cannot come fromabroad. Appointments to the House of Lords are vetted by anindependent commission.
The bad
NEW rules have been circumvented. Labour raised [pound]14m insecret loans and the Prime Minister nominated four of the lenders tothe peerage. The scrapping of the BAE bribes inquiry has harmedBritain's reputation for probity abroad.
What the pundits say
The showman Tony Blair has something of a loose relationship withthe truth that has been profoundly damaging, says The DailyTelegraph in its leader. 'At its nadir, it saw this country led intowar on the basis of lies. And it has created fertile soil forsleaze, which has flourished, from the episode to do with BernieEcclestone to cash-for-honours.' The satirist Craig Brown takes adifferent tack in the same paper, imagining a different leavingspeech from the man described as the outgoing King of Spin. 'Look atthe debates that reverberate around the world today. The debateabout spin. The debate about cash for honours,' he has Blair say.'Without Britain, these debates would not be taking place.' Theblunter Peter Oborne says more simply in the Daily Mail that: 'Ourpublic services remain a mess, while our public life is demonstrablymore sleazy and corrupt.'
2/10
ULSTER
The good
A DURABLE power-sharing government has been set up. The sight ofIan Paisley and Martin McGuinness laughing together has lifted thespirits. All the main terrorist bodies have given up violence. Thepolice have cross-community support.
What the pundits say
Bono, the lead singer of U2, who has emerged as a globalpolitical campaigner, says in The Guardian: 'The Irish peace processwould not have happened without him. I'm sad for him that the end ofthe war in Ireland coincided with the start of the war in Iraq. Hisessence and instinct is to be a peacemaker.' Political commentatorAnthony Howard writes in The Independent that nobody should deny thePrime Minister one of his biggest achievements. 'In Northern Irelandhe stuck with what must have seemed at moments a mission impossibleand he brought it off.' And even the Daily Mail supports the PrimeMinister on this one. Tom Utley tells its readers: 'His greatestlegacy is the peace he helped bring to Northern Ireland, culminatingin the astonishing scenes last week of former sworn enemies, IanPaisley and Martin McGuinness, joking at the prospect of ruling intandem.'
10/10
CLIMATE
The good
THANKS to British efforts at the G8 and in one-to-one talks, theUS, China and India are all committed - in principle - to action.This takes forward the Kyoto process, negotiated with Britishsupport in 1997.
The bad
BRITAIN'S CO2 emissions are rising again. The Climate Change Billlacks specific mechanisms to achieve cuts. Airport expansion isproceeding apace.
What the pundits say
This is one of the battlegrounds for Tony Blair and the Toryleader David Cameron, so it is very surprising how little debatethere has been about the possible differences between Blair and hislikely successor, Gordon Brown. In The Guardian David Adam tellsreaders that Blair recognised the scale of the challenge and calledfor urgent action based on the best scientific advice. 'He went sofar as to label global warming the greatest long-term problem weface.' But that is not enough for Tony Juniper, director of Friendsof the Earth, writing on the same paper's website. 'The leadershiprole we could have had has been diminished by the failure to tacklecarbon emissions at home. Despite repeated promises of cuts incarbon dioxide, the UK's climate strategy has failed to deliver. Inrecent years UK emissions have risen.'
7/10
RIGHTS
The good
GAY rights advanced by the abolition of Section 28, equal age ofconsent and civil partnerships.
The bad
THE Human Rights Act has caused no end of trouble, as the givingof rights to unpopular minorities might be expected to. Power todetain terrorist suspects without charge increased from seven to 28days. Identity cards planned.
What the pundits say
Britain is a fairer country now, insists John Rentoul in TheIndependent. 'Not just in the testing sense of one that grantsrights to minorities that are unpopular with majorities. The HumanRights Act has been a success precisely because it is so unpopular,and has proved so awkward to Blair himself.' Polly Toynbee of theGuardian says there have been major advances. 'Think of the Section28 anti-gay law and compare that with civil partnerships now. Thatis how far Tony Blair has dragged the country in a progressivedirection.' But her colleague David Marquand believes the Act hasnot been fully digested. 'Blair and his ministers haven't fullyunderstood it.'
5/10
EUROPE
The good
THE EU has grown from 15 to 27 countries, an expansion stronglysupported by Britain. The EU is pledged to deeper CO2 cuts, banninghigh-energy lightbulbs and more renewable energy.
The bad
WAR in Iraq has split the EU. Britain has not adopted the euro.
What the pundits say
Tony Blair came into office pledging he would end theestrangement between Britain and continental Europe, writes PeterOborne in the Daily Mail. 'He was determined to take sterling intothe euro, and devoted enormous efforts to making this happen.Indeed, a disproportionately large part of his first term in officewas devoted to this hopeless cause. Luckily he failed.' TrevorKavanagh of The Sun knows who to thank for that. 'Amid fears hewould ditch the pound, The Sun swiftly dubbed him the Most DangerousMan in Britain. It was the powerful voice of Sun readers - and theintervention of Gordon Brown - that stopped him.' John Lichfield ofThe Independent says EU politicians believe Blair's greatest failurewas not convincing the people. 'Opinion in Britain remains frozen inthe Thatcher view of the EU as a monstrous conspiracy.'
5/10
THE FINAL SUMMARY
A record of modest and patchy improvement to the quality of lifeat home. Britain is a more tolerant society, although it is stillmarred by the fear of crime. There is a perceived lack of civilityand a decline in levels of respect for other people.
Abroad, the early promise of an ethical foreign policy was brokenby the disastrous misjudgement of Iraq.
TOTAL 6/10
