A more devious person would be hard to find- ever since he was expelled from Fettes for questioning authority he has virtually gone his own way but propelled by that duplicitous wife of his. She is more than responsible for the cack handed legislation which has been introduced into this country and is now in the process of bringing this once proud nation to its knees. Typical of one whose forbears kept the coal in the bath in Bootle. The sooner they depart the better and this country will breathe a sigh of relief.

perry, Marnhull, Dorset UK

Mr Brown will make a horrible prime minister, much worse than Blair. He will make Britain miss Blair. Pray that my prediction does not come through. Problem is that Brown does not seem to have much of a spine. Fear such men.

MIchael, London, United Kingdom

This stage managed farewell is obscene and the sycophancy is nauseating! This man who inherited a golden economy has, with Brown, wrecked it. For god's sake look around you at the real world!
They sold off our gold for far less than it s value
Ruined the pensions of thousands
Taxed normal workers to the point where they cannnot afford to live without going into debt
Wasted billions of our tax money on useless IT
Employed a million extra bureaucrats to spy on us (gerrymandering is another name for this as they are basically being paid to vote labour)
Broken up the UK and ruined the constitution
Encouraged family break down by rewarding single motherhood
NHS has longer waiting lists whatever Tony says
Flooded the country with immigrants who work in the black economy for very little and so force down British wages
Overburdened all our infrastructure with so many newcomers that it is collapsing
The list goes on but the well heeled Labour supporters do not want to know.

Gina, stevenage, england

The phrase "cowardice in the face of the enemy "comes to mind when debating the Blair cop-out.Has there ever been a Commander-in-Chief who has left his troops high and dry like this before?Our boys cannot leave their posts in Iraq just because they've had enough,so why should their leader be brazen enough to do so?He has a moral responsibility to stand by the Boys.His departure before they withdraw is nothing short of desertion.Shame on you ,Sir!I was a Labour Community Councillor for several years.I will never vote Labour again.

diana owen, Swansea, Wales,UK.

This stage managed farewell is obscene and the sycophancy is nauseating! This man who inherited a golden economy has, with Brown, wrecked it. For god's sake look around you at the real world!
They sold off our gold for far less than it s value
Ruined the pensions of thousands
Taxed normal workers to the point where they cannnot afford to live without going into debt
Wasted billions of our tax money on useless IT
Employed a million extra bureaucrats to spy on us (gerrymandering is another name for this as they are basically being paid to vote labour)
Broken up the UK and ruined the constitution
Encouraged family break down by rewarding single motherhood
NHS has longer waiting lists whatever Tony says
Flooded the country with immigrants who work in the black economy for very little and so force down British wages
Overburdened all our infrastructure with so many newcomers that it is collapsing
The list goes on but the well heeled Labour supporters do not want to know.

Gina, stevenage, england

He would have been out at the next election. Although the alternatives are gruesome, he has been overtaken by the sheer weight of his big mistakes and the inherent contradiction of a right of centre leader with a left of centre party. Now we will have a left of centre leader, things may finally get a bit less convoluted and buried in obfuscating spin.

colin, Shrewsbury, u

After living several years in UK, mainly under Mr Blair´s administration; my view is that any other clever prime minister would have done the same. The war in Iraq was dictated by US foreign policy. Mr. Blair strategically used that opportunity to re-inforce UK´s position in the world´s map.

Fernando Montero, Buenos Aires, Argentina

so..........tony blair is the only prime minister to leave at a time of his own choosing???? harold wilson, according to you, felt the shadow of altzeimers upon him and thus his departure was in some way not voluntary. what rubbish.

argument demolished i believe.

james avery, saffron walden, england

Sixty years? What about Harold Wilson? He may have been worried about his long-term health, but he retired unexpectedly, mid-term, ostensibly without ill health or political pressure.

Graham Read, Cardiff, Wales

I thought Wilson went at a time of his own choosing

david Kay, hemingford,

My question to those who say that Iraq was a Blair-Bush orchestrated war - do you really think so? If you search deeply and think what woul be if it had been some other Uk prime minister (whether red or blue), would they have done anything different when there was so much overwhelming pressure from the USA to go to war? I think Iraq is a Bush dinasty orchestrated war but whoever had been in power in the UK, it would not have made a shred of difference to the current situation. If Al Gore had got in all those years ago, then do you think there would have been an Iraq war? I think Blair's legacy has been dictated by US foreign policy.

Max, Manchester,

I don't really think that jumping before being pushed (at the next election) is really very remarkable. All the promise of a huge election victory in 1997 has been dashed, and 10 years on the only thing you can say about his premiership is that he chose his own timetable for departure. Not exactly a glowing review really is it?

Kevin Egan, Chelmsford,

Sorry Ben - this is nonsense. Far from being good stage management, its boring and self regarding. OK it does confirm his own control freakery, but it also confirms how he has anaesthetised his own party, and the press with him. Just go, mr Blair! Then we can have a "celebration, celebration, celebration." As for what Mr Blair does next, who cares?

Peter, Ferndown, Dorset

Brown has already showed his calibre by giving away most of England's gold. It won't be long before it is undeniable to all that he is second-rate in comparison with Blair. But that is why everyone wants him to replace Blair - they feel more comfortable with the second-rate. Says a lot about people, really.

Ike Eisenhower, Brisbane, Australia

I think the title of your article is misleading. Tony Blair may have been heading the production, but he doesn’t seem recently to have had much control of the stage. The odd thing is that he gives no impression of being in control of his date of departure, otherwise he would have been more positive than to think of ways of alluding to a specific date in order to disguise the fact that he doesn’t know. For students of motive and influence this is an interesting time. My guess is that Blair has for some time been keen to develop more effective ways of paying for his mortgage.

Henry Percy, London, UK

Er... so are you saying that Blair would not have gone if it were not for Brown and half the Labour party breathing down his neck? Wasn't he pre-announcement just an attempt to buy time rather than really orchestrating his planned finale? Is this really the exit he wanted? Is it even half as dignified as John Major's or Harold Wilson's?

Is resigning two years in this parliament serving a full-term, as he desired/planned? Is it really better to be a lameduck rather than be "dumped"?

Terrible, lamentable article. Wouldn't it have been better to have looked at the comparisons between the Churchill/Eden sucession and the present situation?

Graham, London, UK

Some people don't seem to have read the article properly, and consequently look stupid for criticising errors that aren't there.

He specifically mentions Wilson and Macmillan as having left due to serious illness, not exactly 'at a time of their choosing,' unless you think that people choose to be ill.

Andy, Amsterdam,

Are you people making comments that stupid?

both Wilson and Macmillan left office as they knew (or thought they knew) they would not be fit to continue as they succumbed to illness.

therefore it was not strictly of their own personal choice - their illnesses (or so they thought) deemed it inappropriate for them to continue in their roles.

If you're going to pick fault with something at least do it well.

Ian, Leeds,

" Without vision the people perish ". Blair's vision has been a noble one and he has shown courage and true patriotism in seeking to realise it. He is not a proud man and this is a mark of his greatness. We shall be poorer without him.

Panter Philip, Mirano. Venice., Italy

I thought Wilson went at a time of his own choosing. It was a shock at the time

david Kay, hemingford,

How stupid is this article? HAROLD WILSON. You could even make an argument for Harold Macmillan, as he left after being incorrectly diagnosed with a serious illness. Oh, and Churchill, if you go back to 55.

Remember any of these?

Sheer idiocy. E minus, must do better.

brit spin, London,

Harold Wilson

steve Mo, stockholm, Sweden

Blair is clearly not quitting "when he wants to". He foolishly bounced himself into committing to serving no more than a 'full third term' because of his worries about public opinion on the eve of a minor heart operation. And he's not even been allowed to serve the full third term, has he? Blair once had a flair for political theatre, but his botched exit suggests even he can't 'leave the crowd wanting more' when everyone is heartily sick of him.

David, Oxford, UK

One may not be quite certain as to the type of theatrical performance concluded. If of the music hall variety, further reflection may sow doubt as to the wisdom of having attended if the hyperbole of the announcements was not met.
Veteran rockers will know that a gig can involve damage to establishment fixtures.
On the other hand, after the magic of pantomime, the transition from fantasy to the real world can be as abrupt as the transition from the warmth of the foyer to the chilly night outside.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

They may not all have been glorious years but the country is a better place for them.

Mike, Kingston upon Thames, UK

Yeah - when the're driving you out of town make it look like your leading the parade'

Carl Teper, Jerusalem, Israel