George W. Bush, US President:
“A political figure who is capable of thinking over the horizon. He’s a
long-term thinker. I’ll miss Tony Blair. I have found him to be a man who’s
kept his word.
“When Tony Blair tells you something, as we say in Texas, you can take it to
the bank. He’s a remarkable person. And I consider him a good friend."
Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer:
“Tony Blair’s achievements are unique, unprecedented and enduring. Many people
will remember how he led the country after July 7, how he responded for the
whole world after September 11 in America, how he responded to the tragic
death of Princess Diana.
“But over 10 years his enduring legacy will also be that he built better
public services, a strong economy, that Britain’s reputation in the world is
stronger than ever before and that at all times he tried to do the right
thing.”
Colin Powell, US Secretary of State:
“Prime Minister Blair has had an enormous impact on world politics, and he
certainly has had an enormous impact on the special relationship between the
United States and Great Britain. He has been a friend, he has been steadfast
in the face of negative public opinion, and in the face of crises he’s stood
steady. And we could always count on him.”
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union:
“Blair will be remembered for carrying on where Thatcher left off, with a
legacy of war, privatisation and lies. He squandered a massive landslide
from an electorate hungry for change, poured billions of public pounds into
private pockets and accelerated the growing gap between rich and poor.”
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London:
“I think the most important single thing, with the passage of time, will be
finally bringing a resolution to the problems in Northern Ireland because
it’s 800 years and millions have died with famines, murders, assassins. If
you said 10 years ago the only thing this Government will do is bring peace,
then that’s enough.
“I think that in the same way that perhaps one of the biggest long-term
successes is bringing peace to Ireland, the most catastrophic error is the
war in Iraq. It has, in a sense, created a whole new generation of
terrorists."
Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament:
“Many people were genuinely enthused by the promise of an ‘ethical foreign
policy’ but the reality has been that Tony Blair has taken this country into
numerous wars, costing hundreds of thousands of lives, and with the renewal
of Trident, threatens literally hundreds of millions more.
“We’re glad he’ll soon no longer be in a position to make such disastrous
decisions.”
Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth:
“Tony Blair has made a significant positive contribution to the global debate
on climate change, but this has been undermined by his failure to tackle
emissions at home. Despite repeated promises of substantial cuts in carbon
dioxide his climate strategy has failed and UK emissions have actually risen
under his leadership.
Tony Benn, veteran Labour left-winger:
“The people who have done best in Britain in the last 10 years are the rich.
There are 68 billionaires - three times as many there were before. At the
bottom, it is harder. I think it is not surprising that Mrs Thatcher, when
asked her greatest achievement, said New Labour.”
Pat Rabbitte, Irish Labour Party leader:
“Mr Blair is an exceptionally skilful politician who has dominated British
politics for over a decade. No previous British Prime Minister has ever
displayed such constant interest in Irish affairs.”
Abubaker Deghayes, anti-war protester outside Trimdon Labour club
“The police are surrounding the building, come out with your hands up, you are
wanted for war crimes.”
Neil Kinnock, former Labour leader:
“The one word that has to be associated with Tony is ‘winner’, not just of the
unprecedented succession of three elections won by the Labour Party with
large majorities, but also a winner because of his utter insistence and his
endurance in Northern Ireland.
“It is one of the major areas of activity of the Blair years that I find most
difficult to understand. Not the engagement in war, but the nature of the
association with George Bush,” he told the BBC.
Mervyn Kohler, spokesman for Help the Aged:
“The Government’s action to tackle aspects of age discrimination deserve
congratulation - but there is so much more to do to secure a society where
age is truly celebrated. Tony Blair leaves office with the rate of pensioner
poverty at roughly the same level as when he entered it. Help the Aged
awards his decade at the helm a generous six out of 10.”
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general:
“He has moved the party firmly away from the wealth-destroying policies of the
past. More broadly, he has started a process of badly needed reforms in the
public services, but it’s been a case of too little, too late. As a result,
business people feel that much of the massive increase in public spending
over recent years has been wasted.”
Jack McConnell, Scottish Labour leader:
“Tony Blair has been one of the most successful political leaders of all time.
He changed Britain for the better, and forever. He delivered the greatest
constitutional change in the UK for 300 years through devolution for
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and achieved it without conflict or
confusion.
“He is a decent, honest man who will continue to make a major impact on the
world stage.”
Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York:
“Tony Blair always welcomed what he termed prophetic wisdom from the Church on
matters of state, even where such wisdom took the form of criticism or
disagreement.”
Tony Woodley, general secretary of Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite:
“Tony Blair’s legacy as an election-winner for Labour and as someone who did
so much to bring peace to Northern Ireland will unfortunately always be
overshadowed by the catastrophe of the Iraq invasion.
“The debate around the leadership must focus on those issues which have driven
so many voters away from the Party - growing inequality, the loss of
manufacturing jobs, privatisation of public services and, of course, Iraq."
Alastair Campbell, Blair’s former director of communications:
“Tony Blair took the very difficult decision [to go to war in Iraq] and I was
with him through a lot of that process, where he knew it was the toughest
call he was going to have to make ... I think in his heart he still thinks
it was the right thing to do.”
Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party:
“Tony Blair’s legacy can be summed up in one word - Iraq. His undoubted
achievements in office - notably the Northern Ireland peace process and
positive measures such as the minimum wage - will be overshadowed by his
fateful decision to take the country into an illegal and unnecessary war on
a false pretence.”
Hilary Armstrong, former Labour chief whip:
“He retains his sense of humour, he can certainly delegate and he acknowledges
that there are some things he doesn’t get right. I have never seen him lose
his temper, never be discourteous to colleagues and he is a real human
being.”
David Miliband, Environment Secretary on the Cabinet meeting this morning:
“It wasn’t tears and huge emotion but you felt you were there at a relatively
historic occasion.”
Bertie Ahern, Irish Prime Minister:
“Tony Blair leaves office with an honoured place in our history assured. From
his first days as prime minister he devoted unprecedented time and attention
to bringing the appalling conflict in Northern Ireland to an end.”
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury:
“Tony Blair has understood as well as any Prime Minister in recent times why
religion matters, how faith communities contribute to the common good and
why religious extremism should have no place in a progressive society.
“As a man of genuine personal faith, he has not shied away from the risk
associated with confronting extremism, while respecting difference.”
Ann Widdecombe, Conservative MP:
“This man is vainer than Narcissus and more arrogant than Napoleon.”
Gore Vidal, American author:
“Blair simply did what his predecessors had always done: stood loyally by
America. But Blair must know he is dealing with a tenth-rate intellect in
the White House and furthermore with the shadiest people who ever grabbed
power anywhere north of Paraguay.”
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission:
“He has brought to Europe energy, commitment and ideas and leaves an
impressive legacy including his commitment to enlargement, energy policy,
his promotion of action against climate change, and for fighting poverty in
Africa.”
David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party:
"Obviously some good things have happened in the last ten years, not
least the conclusion of the peace process in Northern Ireland just a few
days ago."
"But when the Prime Minister spoke of some hopes being disappointed, that
was putting it mildy: I think many people will look back on the last ten
years of dashed hopes and big disappointments - and so little delivered."
Le Monde, French newspaper:
“The closest ally of President George Bush will leave office undermined by the
military intervention in Iraq.He will also leave the memory of a leader who
contributed to bringing peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence
and who reformed the old Labour Party by bringing it towards the centre.”
La Stampa, Italian newspaper:
“The departure of Blair marks the end of an era. The conventional wisdom is
that the Blair who began so well has lost everything because of his error
over Iraq.
But that error does not cancel out his innovations. For all his personal
weaknesses, Blair was the only social democratic leader to take globalised
capitalism for what it is. The European Left would do well to reflect on
this.”
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, (equivalent to the BBC):
“Blair can look back on considerable successes: he achieved three election
victories for Labour since 1997; he introduced a minimum guaranteed salary;
the Bank of England became independent; and Scotland and Wales got their own
parliaments.
“However, future generations will remember Blair for the bloody chaos in Iraq.
He never managed to get himself rid of his reputation of being ‘Bush's
poodle’.”
