Tony Blair

The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. He has led the Labour Party since July 1994, (following the death of John Smith in May of that year) and brought Labour into power with a landslide victory in the 1997 general election, replacing John Major as Prime Minister and ending 18 years of Conservative government. He is now the Labour Party's longest-serving Prime Minister, and the only person to have led the party to three consecutive general election victories, just as Margaret Thatcher was the only Conservative Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections.

Second term 2001 to 2005

Following the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, Blair was very quick to align the UK with the US, engaging in a round of shuttle diplomacy to help form and maintain a coalition prior to their attack on Afghanistan (in which British troops participated). He maintains this role to this day, showing a willingness to visit countries on diplomatic missions that other world leaders might consider too dangerous to visit. In 2003 he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of the United States Congress for being "a staunch and steadfast ally of the United States of America." http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:1:./temp/~c108vOFQ9V:: although media attention has been drawn to the fact that Blair has yet to recieve his medal with some commentators quick to point out that Blair's support of the US has often been a point of criticism for Parliament and the British public.

Related Topics:
11 September 2001 - World Trade Center - Shuttle diplomacy - Attack on Afghanistan - Congressional Gold Medal - United States Congress

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Iraq war

Blair was a strong supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush's controversial plan to invade Iraq and overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein. Blair soon became the face of international support for the war, often clashing with French President Jacques Chirac, who became the face of international opposition. Regarded by many as a more persuasive orator than Bush, Blair gave many speeches arguing for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the days leading up to war.

Related Topics:
U.S. President - Iraq - Saddam Hussein - French President - Jacques Chirac

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Blair made a case for war against Saddam based on Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction and breach of UN resolutions, but was wary of making a direct appeal for regime change as international law does not recognize that as a legal ground for invasion. A memorandum from a July 2002 meeting which was leaked in April 2005 to The Sunday Times showed that Blair believed that the British public would support regime change in the right political context; however the memo states that legal grounds for such action were weak. On Tuesday 24 September 2002 Downing Street published a dossier based on intelligence agencies' assessments of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Among the items in the dossier was a recently received intelligence report that "the Iraqi military are able to deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes of an order to do so". (A briefing paper in February 2003 entitled 'Iraq - its infrastructure of concealment, deception and intimidation' was also issued to journalists; this document was discovered to have taken a large part of its text without attribution from an academic thesis available on the World Wide Web, and it was subsequently referred to as the 'Dodgy Dossier').

Related Topics:
Weapons of mass destruction - Regime change - Memorandum - The Sunday Times - 24 September - Dossier - Iraqi weapons of mass destruction - Dodgy Dossier

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Forty-six thousand British troops, one third of the total strength of the UK army (land forces), were deployed to assist with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. When after the war it was established that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, Blair's pre-war statements became a major domestic controversy. Many members of the Labour Party, not only those who were opposed to the Iraq war, were among those critical; among opponents of the war, accusations that Blair had deliberately exaggerated the threat were made. Successive inquiries (including those by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons, Lord Hutton and Lord Butler of Brockwell) have found that Blair honestly stated what he believed to be true at the time. Accusations that he lied have continued to dog his career.

Related Topics:
UK army - 2003 invasion of Iraq - Select Committee - House of Commons - Lord Hutton - Lord Butler of Brockwell

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Several anti-war pressure groups want to try Blair for war crimes in Iraq at the International Criminal Court (Bush cannot be tried because the USA is not a signatory to the treaty). The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, stated in September 2004 that the invasion was "illegal".

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The United Kingdom armed forces were active in southern Iraq to stabilise the country in the run-up to the elections of January 2005. In October 2004 the UK government agreed to a request from US forces to send a battalion of the Black Watch regiment to the American sector to free up US troops for an assault on Fallujah. At present, British forces remain in Iraq. After the US election, Blair tried to use his relationship with President Bush to bring pressure on the US administration on Israel and Palestine. He has supported the Israeli government's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Related Topics:
Black Watch - Fallujah - Israel - Palestine - Gaza Strip

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On May 1, 2005, The Sunday Times printed a leaked 'Downing Street memo' which appeared to be the minutes of a discussion of Iraq held in July 2002. The memo created a stir particularly among critics of the war by stating "It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action ... But the case was thin." In the following weeks Blair was compelled to repeatedly reiterate his rationale for taking the UK to war, the basic tenets of which he has steadfastly maintained to this day.

Related Topics:
May 1 - 2005 - The Sunday Times - Downing Street memo

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Furthermore, on the BBC 2005 election special edition of Question Time where Blair took questions from the British public one audience member accused him of only caring about America and not his own country, an accusation Blair strongly denied.

Related Topics:
2005 - Question Time

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Domestic politics

After fighting the 2001 election on the theme of improving public services, Blair's government raised taxes to increase spending on education and health in 2002. Blair insisted that the increased funding must be matched by internal reforms. The government introduced a scheme to allow local NHS hospitals financial freedom, although the eventual shape of the proposals allowed somewhat less freedom than Blair would have liked after an internal struggle.

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In the first term, the government had introduced an annual fixed tuition fee of around £1,000 for higher education students (rejecting requests from universities to be allowed to vary the fee), and replaced the remaining student grant with a loan to be repaid once the student was in work. Despite a manifesto pledge in 2001 not to introduce variable (or "top-up") tuition fees in universities, Blair announced that such a scheme would eventually be brought in with the maximum fee limited to £3,000 per year, while simultaneously delaying the repayment of student loans until a graduate income was much higher and reintroducing some grants for students from poorer backgrounds.

Related Topics:
Universities

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On August 1, 2003, Blair became the longest continuously serving Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, surpassing Harold Wilson's 1964–1970 term. However, because of the crisis over the suicide of Dr David Kelly, a government scientist who had spoken to a BBC journalist precipitating a major fight between the BBC and the government, there were no celebrations. Blair set up an inquiry under the senior Law Lord Lord Hutton.

Related Topics:
August 1 - 2003 - Harold Wilson - David Kelly - Law Lord - Lord Hutton

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The second reading vote on the Higher Education Bill bringing in top-up fees was held on January 27, 2004, and saw the government scrape a majority of 5 due to a Labour rebellion. A first House of Commons defeat had been possible but averted when a small number of Gordon Brown's backbench allies switched sides at the last minute. The next day the Hutton Inquiry reported on the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly. The Inquiry was widely expected to criticise Blair and his government. In the event, Hutton absolved Blair and his government of deliberately inserting false intelligence into its dossier, but criticised the BBC editorial process which had allowed unfounded allegations to be broadcast. The report did not satisfy opponents of Blair and of the Iraq war.

Related Topics:
Second reading - Higher Education Bill - January 27 - 2004 - Hutton Inquiry - Circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly - BBC

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Although the Hutton Inquiry had vindicated Blair, evidence to the inquiry raised questions over the use of intelligence in the run up to the war in Iraq. Hutton was the subject of criticism for strictly interpreting his remit; after a similar decision by President Bush, Blair initiated another inquiry (the Butler Review) into the accuracy and presentation of pre-war intelligence. Opponents of the war, especially the Liberal Democrats, refused to participate as it did not meet their demands for a public inquiry into whether the war was justified.

Related Topics:
Criticism - Butler Review - Liberal Democrats

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In April 2004, Blair announced that a referendum would be held on the ratification of the EU Constitution. This represents a significant change in British politics, where only one nationwide referendum has been held (this was the 1975 referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EEC). It was a dramatic U-turn for Blair, who had previously dismissed calls for a referendum unless the constitution fundamentally altered Britain's relationship with the EU; Michael Howard eagerly seized on the "EU-turn", reminding Blair of his 2003 conference oration that "I can only go one way. I haven't got a reverse gear". The referendum was expected to be held in early 2006; however since the French and Dutch rejections of the treaty, the Blair government have announced that they are putting plans for a referendum on hold for the foreseeable future.

Related Topics:
Referendum - EU Constitution - 1975 referendum - Michael Howard - Referendum - 2006

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During his second term Blair was increasingly the target for protests. On May 19, 2004, he was hit by two condoms filled with purple flour in the House of Commons, thrown by Fathers 4 Justice. His speech to the 2004 Labour Party conference was interrupted both by a protester against the Iraq war and then by a group who opposed the government's decision to allow the House of Commons to ban fox hunting.

Related Topics:
May 19 - 2004 - Condoms - Flour - House of Commons - Fathers 4 Justice - Fox hunting

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On September 15, 2004, Tony Blair delivered a speech on the environment and the 'urgent issue' of climate change. In unusually direct language he concluded that If what the science tells us about climate change is correct, then unabated it will result in catastrophic consequences for our world... The science, almost certainly, is correct. The action he proposed to take appeared to be based on business and investment rather than any tax or legislative attempts to reduce CO2 emissions: ...it is possible to combine reducing emissions with economic growth... investment in science and technology and in the businesses associated with it... The G8 next year, and the EU presidency provide a great opportunity to push this debate to a new and better level that, after the discord over Kyoto, offers the prospect of agreement and action. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1305030,00.html. If he does press the issue at the G8, this would be expected to lead to conflict with the United States, which has opposed the Kyoto Protocol.

Related Topics:
September 15 - 2004 - Climate change - CO2 - Kyoto Protocol

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On February 6, 2005, Blair became the longest-serving Labour prime minister: his 2838th day in office moved him past the combined length of 7 years 9 months that comprised Harold Wilson's four terms during 1964 to 1966, 1966 to 1970, February to October 1974 and October 1974 to March 1976.

Related Topics:
February 6 - 2005 - Harold Wilson

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Attempted impeachment

On August 25, 2004, Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price announced that he would attempt to impeach Blair http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3600438.stm. The measure was supported by all three nationalist parties (Plaid Cymru, SNP and Sinn Fein) and independent MP's, but failed to get more than a few signatures from the MP's of the major parties. No impeachment has been attempted for 150 years, and no impeachment resolution has been passed since 1806; the last two impeachment trials resulted in acquittals. Many legal authorities consider impeachment to be obsolete (see, e.g., Halsbury).

Related Topics:
August 25 - 2004 - Plaid Cymru - Adam Price - Impeach - SNP - Sinn Fein - 1806

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Health problems

On October 19, 2003, it emerged that Blair had received treatment for an irregular heartbeat. Having felt ill the previous day, he went to hospital http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3705684.stm and was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia. This was treated by cardioversion and he returned home that night. He took the following day (October 20) a little more gently than usual and returned to a full schedule on October 21. Downing Street aides later suggested that the palpitations had been brought on by Blair drinking lots of strong coffee at an EU summit and then working out vigorously in the gym. However, former Armed Forces minister Lewis Moonie, a doctor, said that the treatment was more serious than Number 10 had admitted: "Anaesthetising somebody and giving their heart electric shocks is not something you just do in the routine run of medical practice", he claimed.

Related Topics:
October 19 - 2003 - Supraventricular tachycardia - Cardioversion - October 20 - October 21 - Coffee - EU - Armed Forces - Lewis Moonie - Number 10

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Family problems in the spring of 2004 fuelled speculation that Blair was on the brink of stepping down. Lord Bragg, a close friend of the Blair family, admitted that Blair was "under colossal strain", that "considerations of his family became very pressing" and that Blair had thought "things over very carefully." This led to a surge in speculation that Blair would resign. Several Cabinet ministers urged Blair to continue.

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Blair underwent a catheter ablation to correct his irregular heartbeat on 1 October, 2004, having announced the procedure the day before in a series of interviews in which he also declared that he would seek a third term but not a fourth. The planned procedure was carried out at London's Hammersmith hospital. At the same time it was disclosed that the Blairs had purchased a house at No.29 Connaught Square, London, for a reported £3.5 million.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3707520.stm Some have speculated that part of No.29 is to be converted into offices for a future Blair Foundation. The purchase also fuelled speculation that Blair was preparing for life after government.

Related Topics:
Catheter ablation - 1 October - 2004 - London - Hammersmith - Connaught Square

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On May 19, 2005 (a fortnight after polling day in the 2005 general election), Blair was treated with an anti-inflammatory drug to control a slipped disc which had caused him back pain.

Related Topics:
May 19 - 2005 - Slipped disc

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