Blair will step down as British PM in June
Last Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2007
CBC News
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Thursday he will step down on June 27 after a decade in office.
Blair made the formal announcement in his northern England riding of Sedgefield.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he's stepping down next month as he addressed supporters at Trimdon Labour Club in his Sedgefield constituency on Thursday.
(Owen Humphreys/Associated Press)
"I've been prime minister for just over 10 years," Blair told supporters at Trimdon Labour Club, where he launched his campaign to become Labour Party leader in 1994.
"In this job, in the world of today, I think that's long enough for me but more especially for the country. Sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down."
In an announcement that drew mixed reaction from world leaders, Blair said Britain has changed in the 10 years he has been in power because of Labour Party policies. The country, with higher living standards and a stronger economy, has become confident of its future, he said.
"Britain is not a follower today. Britain is a leader.
"There is only one government since 1945 that can say all of the following: more jobs, fewer unemployed, better health and education results, lower crime, and economic growth in every quarter. Only one government, this one."
'Comfortable in own skin'
Blair said Britain is now "comfortable in the 21st century, at home in its own skin."
'Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.'—Tony Blair
He said he always put the country first and he saw that priority as his duty.
"Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right."
In his short speech, the British prime minister said his government has accomplished much during his term in office. He helped to bring about peace in Northern Ireland and has contributed to the war on terror by joining the U.S. in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Blair acknowledged, however, that British military involvement in the Iraq war has been "bitterly controversial."
He said removing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons from power, as well as the Taliban from government in Afghanistan, was done with "relative ease."
"But the blowback since from global terrorism and the elements that support it has been fierce, unrelenting and costly. For many, it isn't and can't be worth it. For me, I think we must see it through."
Blair admitted when he came to power that expectations may have been too high, but it was a new beginning for the country, "a sweeping away of all the detritus of the past."
Blair added: "I may have been wrong. That's your call."
Several world leaders agreed with Blair that he did his best while leader of his country.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who has long considered the British prime minister an important ally, said Blair was a man of his word and a "long-term thinker."
Sean McCormack, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said Blair was a "staunch defender of freedom" and a "terrific leader."
In Brussels, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the "debate for Europe is not yet won" in Britain, but Blair was a good negotiator and advocate for the EU.
"So if Blair was successful in Europe, bringing Europe closer to Britain, he has not yet been able to change the mood completely in Britain regarding some of the most important issues in the European agenda," he said.
'His friendship was both political and religious for Israel with a real understanding about the tragedy of Jewish life ….'—Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres on Blair
Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres praised Blair for his thoughtful leadership, saying Blair was a "man of special meaning.
"His friendship was both political and religious for Israel with a real understanding about the tragedy of Jewish life and great influence of the biblical background," Peres said.
But not all leaders agreed with such a positive assessment.
Palestinian Information Minister Moustafa Barghouti said he hoped a new British prime minister would lead to "serious change in the British politics, that is less biased to Israel, that is more reasonable in co-operating with the Palestinian side."
And Kamal Daneshyar, head of the Iranian parliament's energy commitee, said Blair had committed "crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan" because of his foreign policy.
"The soul of all those men, women and children who have been brutally killed are waiting to witness his suffering," he said.
Uneasy relationship
Before he made his announcement, Blair informed cabinet of his plans.
The resignation was not a surprise. After leading the Labour Party to its third straight election win in 2005, Blair said he would not seek a fourth term.
Treasury chief Gordon Brown, Blair's friend-turned-rival, is expected to win the upcoming leadership contest and become the next prime minister.
The two have had an uneasy relationship in recent years as party members loyal to Brown have pushed for Blair's departure before Labour's annual fall conference leading up to the next election in 2009.
Blair's popularity in opinion polls has plummeted due to government scandals over mismanagement, and controversy over British participation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Labour's bruising defeat last week in English municipal elections has been blamed on the party's increasing unpopularity over the Iraq war, while in Scotland, where Labour has won every election for the past 50 years, Blair's party lost the majority of seats to the independence-seeking Scottish National Party.
Conservative Leader David Cameron — himself compared to a youthful, vibrant Blair when the prime minister took office — grilled Blair in Parliament on Wednesday, asking why a "government of the living dead" needed to remain in power for the next few weeks until Blair stepped down.
Blair responded he needed the time to see through the government's economic, health and education policies.
Iraq decision could haunt Blair's legacy: observers
Amid a wave of optimism, Blair and his "New Labour" team took power in an overwhelming victory in 1997 after 18 uninterrupted years of Conservative rule.
Blair also displayed a remarkable instinct for understanding the public mood in the wake of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, that same year, demonstrated in a speech he gave in which he re-crowned her "the people's princess."
Blair's government oversaw a wide range of social reforms, including increased funding for the National Health Service and the public education system, as well as the introduction of the first minimum wage in British history.
Blair also delivered significant constitutional reform in the creation of provincial parliaments for Scotland and Wales, and the gradual reshaping of the House of Lords.
After almost three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland, Blair successfully guided talks between warring Catholic and Protestant factions that culminated in a peace agreement signed on Good Friday in 1998.
The resumption of power sharing in Northern Ireland this week is seen as Blair's crowning achievement during his stewardship.
But Blair's close alignment with the U.S. on foreign policy, especially over Iraq, has led critics as well as former cabinet members to question his legacy.
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