[Politics] Who was the best British Prime Minister of the last 60 or so years?

[Weststander]

Debt? Osbourne spent in three years as much as Blair did in thirteen. Or are you referring to the Global economic downturn which is apparently all Labour's fault?

New Labour increased national debt from £347B to a £1,011B. In a time of relatively low general inflation, so it cannot be explained as static in real terms. In addition they left Government haemorrhaging £170B per annum, a run away train of state expenditure and interest payments exceeding income, still not fully stopped now.

 

[Biscuit]

Not surprising considering he's a war criminal.

Yawn.

Do you want to have a grown up debate on Blair’s legacy or do you just want to peddle the ‘war criminal’ line?

Iraq was poorly planned, poorly reasoned, badly advised and horrendously executed. But it wasn’t illegal.

If Labour has a leader with even half of Blair’s nouse they’d be in Government right now.


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[Machiavelli]

New Labour increased national debt from £347B to a £1,011B. In a time of relatively low general inflation, so it cannot be explained as static in real terms. In addition they left Government haemorrhaging £170B per annum, a run away train of state expenditure and interest payments exceeding income, still not fully stopped now.

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They did, but you'd need to beat Osborne up just as much as Brown/Blair on that one. The Tories had similar spending plans to Labour in 2007, with the recession/depression looming on the horizon. Remember what caused Brown to duck out of his validation election soon after his appointment?

 

[Bakero]

You can have a serious, grown-up conversation on what Blair achieved, or you can just shout 'war criminal' and refuse to enter a debate. I'm sensing you're the latter?

You're the one shouting accusations. I was merely responding to someone else's post.

Do you agree that Blair's education policy was worse than his decision to lead us into Iraq?

 

[Biscuit]

You're the one shouting accusations. I was merely responding to someone else's post.

Do you agree that Blair's education policy was worse than his decision to lead us into Iraq?

Leading us into Iraq was worse than his education policy. Iraq was a disaster.

Between 1997 and 2007 the core “per pupil” funding rose by 48%. Class sizes reduced as a result of adding 35,000 more teachers over the same period. Teachers wages increased by 18% in real terms. The result? A 14% increase in 11 year olds reaching their expected levels in English, Maths and Science.. so yes, I think his education policy was better than Iraq. [emoji85]


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[rigton70]

Leading us into Iraq was worse than his education policy. Iraq was a disaster.

Between 1997 and 2007 the core “per pupil” funding rose by 48%. Class sizes reduced as a result of adding 35,000 more teachers over the same period. Teachers wages increased by 18% in real terms. The result? A 14% increase in 11 year olds reaching their expected levels in English, Maths and Science.. so yes, I think his education policy was better than Iraq. [emoji85]


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Is that the snowflake generation?

 

[Bakero]

Leading us into Iraq was worse than his education policy. Iraq was a disaster.

Between 1997 and 2007 the core “per pupil” funding rose by 48%. Class sizes reduced as a result of adding 35,000 more teachers over the same period. Teachers wages increased by 18% in real terms. The result? A 14% increase in 11 year olds reaching their expected levels in English, Maths and Science.. so yes, I think his education policy was better than Iraq. [emoji85]


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Great, so you agree with my original post.

 

[looney]

As leaders, Thatcher and Blair are head and shoulders above the rest. Both of them had conviction, were strong-willed, they had a vision for the country and they were big players on the global stage.

Cameron - by comparison - lacked vision, conviction and was a lightweight on the international stage. In turn, Theresa May is like Cameron, only worse. Her General Election campaign last year was quite simply shambolic, she is easily the worst leader in the OP's list.

To me Blair and Cameron were 2 peas in a pod.

 

[drew]

Wrong question. Should be who is the least worst!

 

[looney]

Blairs worse policy was opening the immigration floodgates.

 

[*Gullsworth*]

Not surprising considering he's a war criminal.

2 Tories voted against going to war with Iraq, it was an unanimous vote to go to war against Iraq by a democratic parliament. If you agree or disagree with the decision do you agree the correct parliamentary procedure was carried forward by the then Prime Minister? I was a Blair fan but my political knowledge on the whole Iraq war is very very limited. Hindsight tells me we made a mistake going to war but does that make Blair a war criminal and what does that make the other political representatives who voted yes on the day?

 

[Biscuit]

Is that the snowflake generation?

[emoji1303] yeah, always winging about not being able to afford a home and being trapped in rented.. bloody snowflakes.

Not like the generation before them, with their jobs for life, affordable housing and retiring on full.. they had it tough. [emoji848]


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[drew]

But he hasn't.

He never once admitted he was wrong - which he most definitely was.

You could also argue that the extremely lax financial monitoring policies he and Brown followed were directly responsible for the financial crisis. But he legged it before that came home to roost leaving Brown to carry the can.

I find his recent attempts to stick his nose into the Brexit debate as laughable - still thinks he's important enough to make a difference.

Can't stand him.

Putting aside the war debate I cannot fathom how you can hold Blair and Brown to account regarding lax regulation when at the time everyone else, notably the opposition, were calling for far more deregulation, a programme of which commenced under Thatcher.

 

[astralavi]

All of them would have been against Brexit

 

[*Gullsworth*]

All of them would have been against Brexit

Good point, I think they would have, and now this thread moves to Brexit

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

It seems to me that each PM is worse than the one before.

A slow race to the bottom really.

 

[shingle]

Maggie, head and shoulders above the rest

 

[SeagullinExile]

2 Tories voted against going to war with Iraq, it was an unanimous vote to go to war against Iraq by a democratic parliament. If you agree or disagree with the decision do you agree the correct parliamentary procedure was carried forward by the then Prime Minister? I was a Blair fan but my political knowledge on the whole Iraq war is very very limited. Hindsight tells me we made a mistake going to war but does that make Blair a war criminal and what does that make the other political representatives who voted yes on the day?

He took us to war on the back of a lie. End of.

UN weapons inspectors had said for years that Saddam had no WMD.

They were proved correct.

Blair and Bush went to war for regime change, which is illegal. They weren't even backed by the UN.

War criminals the pair of them.

 

[SeagullinExile]

Yawn.

Do you want to have a grown up debate on Blair’s legacy or do you just want to peddle the ‘war criminal’ line?

Iraq was poorly planned, poorly reasoned, badly advised and horrendously executed. But it wasn’t illegal.





If Labour has a leader with even half of Blair’s nouse they’d be in Government right now.



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It was if it was done in the name of regime change - Which it most definitely was. Did they find any WMD? Didn't UN inspectors say at the time that they had none?

I was a lifelong Labour supporter until Blair destroyed the party - Funnily enough I re-joined when he left - And I'm not alone on that front

And by the way, stop being so patronising. People are allowed differing views you know.

 

[Chicken Run]

Yawn.

Do you want to have a grown up debate on Blair’s legacy or do you just want to peddle the ‘war criminal’ line?

Iraq was poorly planned, poorly reasoned, badly advised and horrendously executed. But it wasn’t illegal.

If Labour has a leader with even half of Blair’s nouse they’d be in Government right now.


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I think the div aka [MENTION=1416]Ernest[/MENTION] might disagree!!