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Tony Blair: March British
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Few British governments have written off such large sections of the population, as under Tony Blair. He was elected, if not by 'the middle class', then certainly by 'the non-underclass'. Its policies were made by and for this 'middle England' or 'middle Britain'. One curious exception was the September 2000 fuel crisis. The protesters were the self-employed, small business - and they were backed by middle England. Blair ... saw them as a reincarnation of 1970's strikers, led by left-wing activists.
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In domestic government policy, Blair significantly increased public spending on health and education while ... introducing controversial market-based reforms in these areas. Blair's tenure also saw the introduction of a National Minimum Wage, tuition fees for higher education, and constitutional reform such as devolution in Scotland and Wales. The British economy performed well, and Blair kept to Conservative commitments not to increase income tax, although he did introduce a large number of subtle tax increases referred to as stealth taxes by his opponents.
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In March 2006, Blair was hit by what became to be known as the "loans for peerages" scandal. It turned out that some rich businesspeople who'd made large, secret loans to the Labour Party ended up in the House of Lords or were given knighthoods or other titles. Scotland Yard was called in to investigate whether illegal inducements had been offered. There were renewed calls for Blair to step down.
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This ... marks Blair off from his predecessors. The normal British approach is to say that there is no need to interfere with European institutions: we should concentrate instead on getting the policy right, reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the like, and let the institutions look after themselves. This has served Britain badly. It fails to recognise that European institutions do need reform: to adjust to enlargement, to reflect the evolution of the union and new priorities - such as crime and terrorism. In the minds of most of its members the EU is a project which remains unfinished and needs to develop further. Prime ministers who do not see this and go into treaty revision negotiations with a purely defensive agenda not only miss the opportunity to shape Europe but give an image of Britain as a grumpy and negative member of the union.
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Blair emerged as an important adviser to the British royal family following the death of Princess Diana in August 1997. Many British citizens, grief-stricken by the tragedy of Diana’s death, criticized the royal family for their aloofness and lack of public presence during a time of national mourning. Blair helped convince Queen Elizabeth II to hold a public funeral and to become a more visible symbol to Britons.
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After Labour's 2004 conference, Blair announced in a BBC interview that he would serve a "full third term" but would not fight a fourth general election. No term limits exist in British politics, and such an announcement was historically unprecedented. Blair said he would give "ample time" for his successor to establish himself before the next general election, likely to be held in 2009 or 2010.
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