Just how bad are the Blairs?

DOES Tony Blair deserve his ongoing demonisation? Public attacks on his selfenrichment, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, are increasing, if anything. At the weekend it was reported that families of the Afghan War dead don’t want him at their St Paul’s commemoration service. Bob Wright, 68, whose son Corporal Mark Wright was killed in 2006, said: ‘He took the country to war, and cost all those lives [453] and he’s got blood on his hands.’ It’s also reported that Blair sought a £30 million contract with the United Arab Emirates while working as a Middle East peace envoy. Chris Doyle of the Council for Arab-British Understanding says: ‘If he wishes to continue down the path of working for Middle East governments on huge contracts, then he cannot be the representative for the quartet and should resign. There are huge conflicts of interest.’ But Blair’s not the only one ‘with blood on his hands’. The then Tory Opposition were even more enthusiastic about joining the U.S. war in Afghanistan and Iraq. And what should Blair have done after quitting No 10? He could have remained an MP, serving Parliament and the nation which honoured him, instead of cashing in on the contacts he made in No 10. Or, have used them more sparingly. How many of us would have made that decision? A minority, I fear. Tony and Cherie have taken the course followed by their friends, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Who, according to the New York Times, have ‘a whole wide world that opens its arms and wallets to them’.