There’s been a bit of argument on here lately about truth. A perfect time then to consider the case of Anthony Lyndon Blair, following his Chilcott appearances last week. For me it’s a heartfelt subject – I feel like the survivor of a love affair gone bad. I’d just turned 18 when Blair took power (having seen him speak impressively at a student conference the year before). In fact I enthusiastically took the role of Labour candidate that year in our school version of the General Election – a viciously fought affair in which over 1,000 voted (very few of them for me! I blame our location within a Tory heartland...). In doing so I enthusiastically endorsed the manifesto and the ‘third way’ that I felt represented my own outlook on political life. I was genuinely excited when the new First Family rolled into Downing Street and, as a new student, I entirely bought into the Cool Britannia phase when Noel Gallacher was hanging out at the seat of power. And then...
Not that New Labour has been a total failure. Schools and hospitals are better than they used to be. Driving around our neck of the woods it’s possible to lose count of the new-built glass-fronted schools we pass. Most of our local comprehensives seem to be attaining Excellent Ofsted reports and I know they’re not given out lightly! Those that are failing (my wife’s old school has sadly entered this bracket) are dealt with swiftly, effectively and, yes, brutally. I know, as a teacher, that the tactics of league tables, shotgun inspections and golden handshakes have alienated many (and SEN provision or playing fields would be whole different articles) – but most today leave today with a better all round education than they used to – and I will argue with anyone who disagrees.
But in the end Blair blew it. Even on foreign policy he was good for a while – he showed balls in Kosovo and played it right in Northern Ireland. Afghanistan may seem a mistake in hindsight, but few argued with the taking down of Bin Laden’s unashamed sponsors and apologists. However, in all this, it seemed he was becoming increasingly presidential – loving himself as the world statesman, contemptuous of Cabinet and in thrall to his perception across the Atlantic. And as for Iraq; I remember the sense of inevitability. The news reports may have been saying Hans Blix had found nothing, that war could be evaded, that we were waiting for a UN resolution. But we all knew the decision had been made and that redneck Bush was running the show – it was just a matter of when. Likewise we knew that, WMD or not, Saddam posed no more threat to us in the UK than does Mugabe or any other distant dictator.
And now, as we hear of Attorney General Goldsmith being bullied to change his mind on legality, of ‘evidence’ that few saw and even fewer felt compelled by... well what do we take from it all? First, I would again return to electoral reform. Blair felt untouchable, indeed was untouchable, due to his massive majority. Again, this was particularly dangerous when combined with the power of the party whips, to whom disobedience would have meant career suicide for any Labour MP. It laid bare our claims to democracy, as a war which featured nowhere in any manifesto put before the electorate was rushed through, desired by few in the country, the parliamentary party, the Civil Service or even the Cabinet. Blair told us to trust him and many did – largely because there was no real choice in the matter. And perhaps because we couldn’t quite believe things were as they seemed – that we really were ploughing in cack-handed on a personal grudge, with no idea of what would happen next (other than big oil contracts for lobbying US corporations). Secondly, we have to let the UN do its job. I know there’s danger in that – I will never forget reading Fergal Keane’s account of the Rwandan genocide and the moral failure of that body in letting it happen. But whilst, for all sorts of reasons, we can’t be the world’s policeman, we are part of a body equipped for that job. Our efforts should surely be spent on helping steer that ship when it comes to Iran or whoever’s next.
Part of me still wants to believe in Blair. I’m well aware I’m still not slating him to the extent he deserves. I want him to do well in the Middle East and to use the fact he’s highly regarded by many abroad. But, in the end, I and history will judge him responsible for those 100,000 Iraqi corpses; for cluster bombs, civil war and for misery that manages to at least match anything wrought by Saddam. And that I fear outweighs, well, anything else really…
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