Product Description

Tony Blair has dominated British political life for more than a decade. Like Margaret Thatcher before him, he has changed the terms of political debate and provoked as much condemnation as admiration. At the end of his era in power, this book presents a wide-ranging overview of the achievements and failures of the Blair governments. Bringing together Britain's most eminent academics and commentators on British politics and society, it examines the effect of the Prime Minister and his administration on the machinery of government, economic and social policy and foreign relations. Combining serious scholarship with clarity and accessibility, this book represents the authoritative verdict on the impact of the Blair years on British politics and society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39387 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 708 pages

Review
‘A compelling compendium of the Blair years from some of Britain’s most authoritative figures’ John Kampfner, New Statesman

'The authoritative verdict on the Blair years. Anthony Seldon and his team of experts tell an insightful and illuminating story of politics as policy rather than soap-opera'. Steve Richards, The Independent

' … a first class resume …' Sir Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times

'The merit and importance of Blair's Britain 1997–2007 is that it provides an intelligent, expert overview of the decade as a whole, on some 30 topics.' The Guardian

'One of the many merits of Anthony Seldon's edited book, Blair's Britain 1997–2007, is that it does justice to all aspects of the Blair era … The volume is intended 'to achieve a balanced perspective not only on the man but also his government', and the distinguished team of experts contributing chapters to the book have successfully accomplished this goal.' The Irish Times

'This is a useful … survey of the state of Britain after ten years of Blair's labour rule.' Morning Star

'…this detailed and comprehensive anthology will, together with its two predecessor volumes, inform the debate on Blair's legacy for many years to come.' The Political Quarterly

About the Author
Anthony Seldon is Master Elect of Wellington College and the co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary British History. He is a prominent commentator on British political leadership and the leading authoritative commentator on Tony Blair, having written or edited 5 books on him including The Blair Effect 2001–5 (with Dennis Kavanagh, Cambridge, 2005).

Customer Reviews

Naked Opportunism

Politicians usually like to get their retaliation in first by writing history as they want it to be remembered. Tony Blair is an exception. Studies of Blair's time in office are legion. Whether this is because Blair himself is too busy earning a fortune on the lecture circuit, the retaliation of the chattering classes in response to their failure to stand up to his egocentricity while they had the chance, or simply because his own preferred place in history is unraveling around him, is anyone's guess.

Blair came to office on a programme of reform authored by others and espousing shibboleths of economic efficiency, social justice and progress. To implement the programme he adopted former Conservative policies and redefined the centre ground in British politics. Exactly how much was achieved remains open to question, not least because of the development of political spin which frequently included statements of what was to be done which were, in practice, restatements of unfulfilled promises.

Blair had no experience of foreign affairs prior to becoming Prime Minister and the quick departure from New Labour's promised "ethical" foreign policy demonstrated that fact. Blair, however, was unperturbed, particularly after the atrocities of 11 September 2001 and promptly looked for a way to leave a legacy by which he could be remembered. Regrettably that legacy are the dead from an illegal and unjust war in Iraq which was itself founded on a misrepresentation of political reality and complete naivety on Blair's part.

Although not referred to in the book a television programme on the decision to invade Iraq included an interview with an independent expert who was called to Downing Street to advise Blair about Iraq's history. He carefully explained the history of Iraq, including its three main religious, geographical and political divisions and was amazed when Blair failed to hear what he was told and responded with the question, "But he's evil isn't he?" in an apparent reference to Saddam Hussein.

As Dennis Kavanagh points out "Many of the causes he held dear and even hoped that Iraq might advance have actually been harmed. He has ended up with a huge deficit." In addition, Britain's influence in the world has deteriorated as she was increasingly seen as the puppy dog of an American President whose knowledge of the origins of Muslim terrorism was little better than that of a third grade schoolchild. Muslim groups have become radicalised and terror has been brought home to the streets of Britain where it is being used as an excuse to undermine civil rights.

Blair didn't care for any opinions but his own, reducing the number and effectiveness of Cabinet meetings and making Thatcher's Cabinet toadies seem like usurpers of power by comparison with the spineless jobs worths who filled the government's supposed policy making body. Gordon Brown was the exception but he was so focused on creating the myth of the "Iron Chancellor" and sustaining supporters in his own quest for the top job, that he not only failed to question the erosion of power from the body politic but actively encouraged it.

Parliament was progressively weakened - the influx of Blair's Babes proving little more than a device to emphasise Blair's own personal attractiveness to the electorate - and the institution was bypassed by the development of media management. Reform of the House of Lords was emasculated from the concept of the People's Parliament to become yet another avenue for the great and the good to cement their chosen place in society.

Blair was a performer and, as Philip Stephens points out, "Brilliant performance was not the same as solid achievement". He was, essentially, New Labour's front man, churning out the words written for him, who fell for the propaganda he spouted. His ten years in office, for all New Labour's achievements, including the minimum wage, devolution (a mixed blessing perhaps) and increased public expenditure, have been permanently damaged by his disastrous policy in Iraq.

Behind the spin all that really changed was the political ideals of the old Labour Party which were jettisoned in pursuit of Blair's over-riding objective of keeping New Labour in power at any cost, including that of its integrity.

The actor Robert Lindsay captured Blair's insincerity perfectly in the television play about David Blunkett's sexual adventures. When it came to matters of substance Blair was found wanting. He lacked the political will to sack Brown whose sulky opposition betrayed an anti-Blairite spirit. In the end his time ran out leaving the crown to his arch enemy.

The contributors to this book are a combination of experts in their own specialisms, each of them producing pithy observations based on their own expertise. Anthony Seldon has written extensively on Blair although, in one instance, he was denied access when Blair realised he was an impartial observer not a lackey.

I do not share the view that the book represents the Establishment's smug view of Blair's "success". It is a record of what happened and the way it is viewed by the contributors. Blair's failings have been noted as has the pernicious role of media management. Over time this book may require revision and reinterpretation in light of political and social change but it will serve as a foundation stone for the study of Blairism in action for many years to come.

Smug, establishment view of one of their own
This is a useful, if biased, survey of the state of Britain after ten years of Blair's Labour rule. The contributors include a judge, many professors, and the Director of the Royal United Service Institute. One, Professor Lawrence Freedman, wrote Blair's 1999 Chicago speech calling for a more interventionist foreign policy. A third of the book describes how Blair operated, including a piece on his `leadership', but is not useful. However the chapters on the effects of Labour's policies are more revealing.

Our manufacturing industry gets just 15 pages. Investment as a share of GDP was lower in 2003-5 than it had been in 1976-8. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research reported in 2005 that there had been 'no obvious improvement' in productivity since 1997. Investment in R&D has lagged behind France, Germany and the USA, and was actually lower in 2004 as a percentage of GDP than in 1995.

In 2006, a third of working-age adults still lacked any recognised skills. The scandal of poverty was scarcely lessened: the Low Pay Unit reported that two million children were working illegally, mostly the children of immigrants. A Bill to make it harder for gang masters to exploit foreign labour fell through lack of support.

Globalisation increases inequalities within and between nations and the Labour Party `embraced global capitalism with enthusiasm', as Robert Taylor notes. In 1997, the richest thousand owned £98.99 billion; in 2007, £359,943 billion, up 263%. The International Monetary Fund pointed out that Britain was as attractive to foreign capital as the Cayman Islands, a tax haven. Peter Sinclair concludes that Labour's "greatest achievement was to consolidate the revolution of their Conservative predecessors."

Philip Stephens of the Financial Times writes of the `unprecedented investment in health and education', but doesn't ask how much went straight through to private companies, via Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnerships. Blair claimed that PFIs and PPPs would end the need for public investment in those areas - which was, as Stephen Glaister comments, `plainly nonsense'. Sinclair notes the PFIs' `legacy of financial poison for the health trusts that had been induced to enter them'. By 2010, the NHS will be paying £2 billion to cover the charges the annual charges on PFI schemes. Brown forced the biggest ever PPP scheme on the London Underground, which has been a disaster.

Tim Newburn and Robert Reiner note that Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and Japan all achieved crime drops without imprisonment increases. They deplore the government's `increasingly ruthless and shrill attacks on civil liberties'.

Target-setting in education and the stress on diversity of schools were misguided, resulting in a free-for-all (including the nonsense of faith schools, not mentioned in the book). UNICEF's 2007 report on child well-being found us 21st out of 21 `developed' countries.

Timothy Garton Ash writes, "the invasion and occupation of Iraq has proved to be a disaster ... the most comprehensive British foreign policy disaster since the Suez crisis of 1956." In a March 2007 poll, majorities supported the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Two-thirds thought that Britain was over-extended and that it should not "become involved in any foreign conflict unless it is absolutely clear that it is in Britain's own interest to do so."

The editor, Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College, sees as `successes' what most of us see as disasters - the city academies, competition in the NHS, privatisations, PFI and keeping Thatcher's anti-trade union laws. This is a smug, establishment view. Labour under Blair continued Thatcher's destruction of Britain, and Brown continues it now.