Talking Tony
At 06:05 this morning, the following text message dropped into the Breakfast inbox.
"I am getting fed up hearing about Tony Blair - change your record. Robert in Cheltenham"
This was not what we wanted to hear. We'd only been on air five minutes. We'd barely mentioned his name.
And we had already got extensive plans for the Five Live Breakfast programme - to reflect on the impending departure of Tony Blair. We wanted to hear from listeners - telling us what they would remember about the soon-to-be ex-PM. But, if Robert in Cheltenham was typical, we could be swimming against the tide.
Fortunately, Robert turned out to be a fairly solitary voice. Plenty of other people wanted to have their say about Tony Blair. The critics were out in force, The same words kept cropping up - spin, Iraq, lies, illegal war, pensions. But there were others who wanted to praise Blair too - for example Valarie in Essex...
Thanks Tony Blair for saving our NHS and hence saving the life of my lovely Granddaughter and Thank you also for saving my life and for the wonderful treatment I received for Breast Cancer, I could not have got better if I had gone private.
And so, hour after hour, the reaction continued to pour in. Even though Mr Blair was not leaving his job straight away, but merely telling the world his intentions, people were armed and ready with the opinions of 10 years under Labour.
It was meaty stuff - there were allegations of broken promises, claims of a new dawn for the NHS, complaints about education standards, celebrations of investments in new buildings.
But when it comes to interaction people like nothing more than a gag. And as John Pienaar stood outside Downing Street telling us about the arrivals of cabinet colleagues for a moment of history, someone was spotted carrying a guitar case into Number 10.
Oh no. He's not going to sing is he? No sooner had the idea been given the briefest of airings, than we were inundated again - this time with the titles of the songs Tony might sing to his chums after he bade them farewell. No more mr nice guy... Tears of a clown... you get the idea.
And then the tone changed again. William Hague - a man who once had his own ambitions to be PM - said there should now be a general election. It should be down to the people not the Labour party to decide who should run the country. This even before Mr Blair had spoken publicly about his plans.
And so a text vote started on Five Live... and within minutes hundreds of people had voted. Eighty percent (in an unscientific straw poll) said yes - there should be an election.
Comments
Another election is a good idea in principle, but to what end? David Cameron is a Blair clone so who would you vote for ? Blair Mk2 (Cameron) or Gordan Brown a man who has taxed us to death, will pretty much carry on as blair did is scottish and has no carisma.
As was said in Nick Robinsons blog Tony blairs greatest legacy in his eyes will be David Cameron becuase immitation is the greateast form of flattery.
That may be right and it may compliment blair but it is a sad situation for the people of this country becuase it means the politics of choice, left verses right, no longer exists.
And so becuase of this Blairs real legacy is the destruction of democrasy in the UK.
Please re-balance your news contents. Tony Blair has not died; just announced his resignation (future) The amount of coverage/ comment is way OTT. There is other news, far more important. Please save us from 6 more weeks of TB comment. Many of us do not want it.
So the time has come for the big man to step down... Difficult to know how to sum up the last 10 years in a mere paragraph or two. I'm glad the retirement has come soon though, because there's no way our Tone can drag on for much longer, especially with the recriminations he has suffered from Iraq - a tirade that surely has sewn the seeds for him and the Labour government to be washed away had he not done the noble thing.
One interesting point to note though... Apparently as an ex-PM, Tony gets free stationary for life... It's not all bad news for him then!
Given that only the people in Sedgefield actually voted for Tony Blair himself, the change in leadership would not automatically trigger an election. Those who voted for Labour will still get Labour, with the party deciding which individual gets to be in charge.
Or do these people think they live in America now, with a separate Presidential election?
I have great respect for Tony Blair. He is an articulate speaker and is able to inspire others. I also think he is a very deep thinker.
Our President, similar to your Prime Minister, is not a dictator. One must remember that we have representative governments and that no individual can usurp the rights and will of the people. Although it is easier to blame the world's sorrows on one person, (or two as the case may be with President Bush and Prime Minister Blair), our representatives (U.S. Congress or Parliament of the United Kingdom) should not be dismissed from the blame for missteps in foreign and domestic policies. However, the United Kingdom, America, and many other countries recognize that we are in a new type of war. The war is against terrorists who have no compassion for anyone, anywhere, or anytime. They hate all people who do not subscribe to their doctrine. This is not the war my father fought in Europe when he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. No, this is an undeclared war without boundaries against all freedom loving people. So, if any of the purveyors of hate against Prime Minister Blair or President Bush can answer the question of how we manage such a new type of war, than you are better then all of the leaders of free world. May God grant us the wisdom to bring peace and freedom for all and understanding and compassion for our differences. And that, my dear friends, is the difference between us and them, we pray for compassion and they pray for hate and death.
Florida, USA
You should not allow anyone on the air to complain about a supposed illegal war without giving REASONS to back up their claim.
as is so tipical of bbc the one e mail you choose to print in full is the one paising blair and on a day when this country came bottom of cancer recovery rates in the whole of westen europe
Of course your inbox is going to receive differing opinions about Blair, but there's really no need to behave as if the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú has the last word on the advantages/disadvantages of his premiership, or to ignore the fact that there has, as far as I can tell, been no journalistic enquiry into what has happened to the "cash for honours" enquiry ince it was referred to the CPS.
Are you scaredy-cats, or what? Or would you just prefer to wear risk-nothing jounalistic smirks and get paid every week? Or month?
His resignation speech, like his ten years as PM is twisted truths.
We have not removed the Taliban and Portugal is our oldest ally not the USA, unless the 'our' is New Labours not the countries.
He may have done some good for the country but it will be far out shadowed by his foreign policies