There is more to the record of Tony Blair than Iraq
“He was Labour’s most electorally successful leader and by a long way. He took a party that had lost four elections in a row and turned it into a winning machine that secured three consecutive terms. He is one of only two people to have achieved triple back-to-back election victories since the introduction of universal suffrage.
His fellow hat-tricker was Margaret Thatcher and his aggregate parliamentary majorities were larger than hers. He won his party 13 continuous years in office. That is not only the longest period of Labour government ever, it is the longest stretch of non-Tory government since 1762. I am aware that I’ve pointed this out before. I draw it to your attention again because it is such a jaw-dropper of a fact.
He presided over the most sustained economic growth in British history and at a time when other major economies tipped into recession. That was accompanied by stealthy but significant redistribution towards the less well-off while record sums were poured into public services.
It is too easily forgotten how tattered was the state of the public realm back in 1997 when schools had roofs that let in the rain and the hospital building stock was in the advanced stages of decay. The current squeeze on public services would have been felt that much harder had the Blair governments not invested heavily in improving the social fabric.”
Extract from column in today’s “Observer” newspaper by Andrew Rawnsley.