Blair takes last bow

TRIMDON, ENGLAND: Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his resignation on Thursday, ending a tumultuous decade as one of Britain’s most successful leaders who divided the nation over the Iraq war.

Blair, who will stand down on June 27, defended his record supporting the United States after the September 11, 2001, attacks and the Iraq invasion, insisting: “Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.”

An emotional Blair told supporters at his northern England constituency, “I may have been wrong, that’s your call. But believe one thing, if nothing else, I did what I thought was right for our country.”

“I thank the British people for the times that it went right. And I apologise for the times I have fallen short.”
Blair, 54, will leave office after 10 years in power which started with the handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997 a few weeks after the first of his three general election triumphs.

He guided the nation and the royal family through the trauma of the death of Princess Diana, presided over a booming British economy and secured a peace deal for Northern Ireland, which was finally sealed this week. But for many his legacy risks being clouded by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

His premiership started amid euphoria but is ending with his popularity at record lows. Blair said he had taken over a country “uncertain of its future, uncertain about the future,” but insisted his government had achieved more than any other in Britain since 1945 because of the improved economy.

“I have been prime minister of this country for just over 10 years. In this job, in the world today, I think that is long enough for me.”

Britain’s deputy prime minister John Prescott, who has frequently made newspaper headlines with his comments and his private life, said he would also stand down.

Finance minister Gordon Brown, the frontrunner to replace Blair despite their rivalry, hailed the prime minister’s “unique leadership” at a cabinet meeting in London before Blair flew off to Trimdon in northeast England to make his announcement, a spokesman said.

“There was much thumping of the table,” said the spokesman. “Gordon paid a very full tribute to Tony in there,” added Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.

Despite his poll slump at home, Blair remains a hugely popular figure in the United States and many other countries.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe praised Blair saying: “He has achieved great results for the past 10 years. He won people’s support by developing the economy and carrying out education reforms.”

Blair won three general elections and originally promised to serve a full third term of office, which would have kept him in office to 2010, but not fight for a fourth term in office. But after a mini “coup” by some Labour lawmakers last September, allegedly orchestrated by Brown, Blair was forced to say he would step down by September this year.

Brown, 56, who shared an office with Blair when they were first elected to parliament in 1983 and who jointly reformed Labour, is a virtual certainty to become his successor.