Labour’s (Blair’s) Top 50 Achievements Since 1997
Comment at end
22nd April, 2008
NOTE: I’d add to this Blair’s foreign policy interventions, including Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. The reason it is not included here is the reason I am not a Labour party member.
1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s.
2. Low mortgage rates.
3. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.52.
4. Over 14,000 more police in England and Wales.
5. Cut overall crime by 32 per cent.
6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools.
7. Young people achieving some of the best ever results at 14, 16, and 18.
8. Funding for every pupil in England has doubled.
9. Employment is at its highest level ever.
10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries.
11. 85,000 more nurses.
12. 32,000 more doctors.
13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards.
14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament.
15. Devolved power to the Welsh Assembly.
16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time.
17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice.
18. Gift aid was worth £828 million to charities last year.
19. Restored city-wide government to London.
20. Record number of students in higher education.
21. Child benefit up 26 per cent since 1997.
22. Delivered 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres.
23. Introduced the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & up to £300 for over-80s.
25. On course to exceed our Kyoto target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
26. Restored devolved government to Northern Ireland.
27. Over 36,000 more teachers in England and 274,000 more support staff and teaching assistants.
28. All full time workers now have a right to 24 days paid holiday.
29. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty.
30. 600,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents.
32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships.
33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard.
34. Inpatient waiting lists down by over half a million since 1997.
35. Banned fox hunting.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
37. Free TV licences for over-75s.
38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals.
39. Free breast cancer screening for all women aged between 50-70.
40. Free off peak local bus travel for over-60s.
41. New Deal – helped over 1.8 million people into work.
42. Over 3 million child trust funds have been started.
43. Free eye test for over 60s.
44. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled.
47. Heart disease deaths down by 150,000 and cancer deaths down by 50,000.
48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent.
49. Free nursery places for every three and four-year-olds.
50. Free fruit for most four to six-year-olds at school.
Tony Blair 
February 7, 2009 at 12:28 pm |
[…] Blair’s Top 50 (domestic) achievements as at Labour’s website. (Middle East conflicts omitted. Imho, Iraq at least, will turn out to be a great success story. And why do they fail to mention Sierra Leone & Kosovo? Foreign policy is evidently of NO relevance to the Labour Left. Blair has clearly outgrown these small minds.) […]
August 29, 2016 at 7:20 am |
Iraq still a great success story?
September 7, 2009 at 8:37 pm |
So, Tony has done something? or were his top 2 actually market forces created by the previous Tory government . Most government effects are felt years after they have been in power. So, No I don’t think we know what his affects are yet. I have some that he did whilst in Government. The M4 Bus Lane, The Iraq War, The DOME, oh yes and the death of Doctor David Kelly. I also believe the degrading of the British Education system, but time will tell. Lastly the complete and utter waste of money, and probably nothing to show for it. (£175Bn in debt !! 2009)> Labour (Same Old) spent so much and have left us worse off again. He I believe is now a multi millionaire, which is probably his greatest achievement. Well done Tony, can’t wait to see which country you to re-locate to avoid tax.
September 7, 2009 at 10:10 pm |
Tony never once discounted Thatcher’s legacy. I might have, if asked but he never did. I do not claim that everything was compltely dreadful before 1997, just pretty awful. Mainly due to Tory incompetence as regards the social side of the country AND economy. T’was ever thus.
He actually started to become a historical leader BEFORE becoming PM. Ending Clause 4 was truly earth-shattering. I was not in his party and was not even a supporter, but you’d have to be cuckoo not to see that settling the Northern Ireland conflict was mainly HIS doing, even though Major may have started it. It would not have been completed successfully with ANY Tory leader, imho. It even took Blair 10 years, and 40% of the first year he spent on it.
Iraq will in time be recognised as one of his GREATEST achievements.
The “degrading of the education system”? Well, you’re speaking to a teacher here. I DO have my concerns, but they are more to do with Human Rights Act impinging on our laws, easing up on discipline as a result, and a general disregard for others, as people felt their RIGHTs were of the utmost. The EU HR Act would have been brought in by any government as long as we were part of Europe. And we always would have been part of the EU even under the split Tories.
The degenartion in society mores did not happen overnight from Blair’s arrival. It was set in train many years ago by the Conservatives, as was too much latitude as regards immigration and too little demand made on incomers. I have seen that error at work for over 25 years.
As for Dr Kelly – DO NOT TALK RUBBISH.
If you are charging Mr Blair with murder or complicity to murder do not rant about it here, but take your proof to the MET. Otherwise read better newspapers and get off the Daily Mail, for a start.
The debt? The then chancellor/present prime minister (if anyone) is responsible for this, not Mr Blair. Which country has escaped the downturn? None. As it happens I do NOT blame Brown, much as I dislike him for usurping Blair’s rightful place, and for doing the job so badly. It was a worldwide economic disaster awaiting ALL of us. But no-one dared pull the plug until the plug jumped out of the sink, all by its little self.
The dome was started by Michael Heseltine and Blair was keen on it, true. We can;t get everything right. But I had a great view of it for some years after it was built, and I quite enjoyed that!
If you are a Tory, which you sound like, do you STILL not understand market value? Mr Blair’s market value is HUGE. I wonder why.
Get off your nasty-sounding high-horse. It’s pretty despicable. Envy writ large.
September 7, 2009 at 10:10 pm |
Tony never once discounted Thatcher’s legacy. I might have, if asked but he never did. I do not claim that everything was compltely dreadful before 1997, just pretty awful. Mainly due to Tory incompetence as regards the social side of the country AND economy. T’was ever thus.
He actually started to become a historical leader BEFORE becoming PM. Ending Clause 4 was truly earth-shattering. I was not in his party and was not even a supporter, but you’d have to be cuckoo not to see that settling the Northern Ireland conflict was mainly HIS doing, even though Major may have started it. It would not have been completed successfully with ANY Tory leader, imho. It even took Blair 10 years, and 40% of the first year he spent on it.
Iraq will in time be recognised as one of his GREATEST achievements.
The “degrading of the education system”? Well, you’re speaking to a teacher here. I DO have my concerns, but they are more to do with Human Rights Act impinging on our laws, easing up on discipline as a result, and a general disregard for others, as people felt their RIGHTs were of the utmost. The EU HR Act would have been brought in by any government as long as we were part of Europe. And we always would have been part of the EU even under the split Tories.
The degenartion in society mores did not happen overnight from Blair’s arrival. It was set in train many years ago by the Conservatives, as was too much latitude as regards immigration and too little demand made on incomers. I have seen that error at work for over 25 years.
As for Dr Kelly – DO NOT TALK RUBBISH.
If you are charging Mr Blair with murder or complicity to murder do not rant about it here, but take your proof to the MET. Otherwise read better newspapers and get off the Daily Mail, for a start.
The debt? The then chancellor/present prime minister (if anyone) is responsible for this, not Mr Blair. Which country has escaped the downturn? None. As it happens I do NOT blame Brown, much as I dislike him for usurping Blair’s rightful place, and for doing the job so badly. It was a worldwide economic disaster awaiting ALL of us. But no-one dared pull the plug until the plug jumped out of the sink, all by its little self.
The dome was started by Michael Heseltine and Blair was keen on it, true. We can;t get everything right. But I had a great view of it for some years after it was built, and I quite enjoyed that!
If you are a Tory, which you sound like, do you STILL not understand market value? Mr Blair’s market value is HUGE. I wonder why.
Get off your nasty-sounding high-horse. It’s pretty despicable. Envy writ large.
October 29, 2009 at 12:57 am |
[…] that’s fine with you, Heresiarch. BlairSupporter · 30 minutes ago To […]
January 12, 2010 at 7:27 pm |
liked the website keep it up
January 12, 2010 at 10:22 pm |
Thanks shazmin,
Why don’t you sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition, linked at the top of the post.
June 15, 2011 at 2:01 pm |
Tony Blair, it would be better Bliar, is a real criminal, he deceived people starting war on Iraq together of his accomplice George W. Bush and he continued the worst politic of an other criminal that was Margharet Thatcher.
Have you seen economic situation in Grat Britain? For me, you didn’t it.
June 16, 2011 at 10:52 am |
@ massimo – I happen to live in Great Britain. Do you? I also happen to understand the complexity of the reasons for the economic situation – mainly global finance. Once the USA’s mortgage system collapsed Britain was bound to suffer since we are so interlinked. Germany didn’t, because Germany does not have a large home-owning populace.
As for Iraq, like so many others who “THINK” they know, you know nothing. Time and history will tell. But right now most people in Iraq do not feel that Tony Blair is any kind of criminal. And, by the way, Blair did NOT deceive people.
February 20, 2012 at 1:34 am |
love the site feel that both Blair and Brown demonised by the media, wonder why they do not report on some of the wonderful charitable work both families continue to do. It is easy to point a finger of blame just wish people had hard evidence and facts to support their claims.
February 24, 2014 at 6:52 pm |
Didn`t he shut down the House of Lords?? I understand the worldwide Masonic League rule us all now instead. No votes needed there!! Oooops can`t you tell I`m a woman `not in charge`
June 4, 2014 at 8:04 pm |
No, he didn’t “shut down the House of Lords”. And no, he is not involved in Masonry. As for your other (gender) comment, please – don’t be silly.
September 13, 2015 at 10:54 am |
I liked Tony Blair and thought he was fundamentally a good man. Regards Iraq it irritates me that people think ‘He lied’. He presented the facts that the US and MI6 gave to him. He made decisions based on bad info. But at the time we all ‘knew’ Saddam had WMDs as we had saw him USE THEM on the kurds. Just look on you tube if you want too see what Saddams gas did to thousands of flering Kurdish civilians!
Hind sight is a wonderful thing. The war ultimately was wrong and bad – but did he know that at the time?! Why on earth would he have gone to war if he knew it was all ‘lies’. Remember he had successfully saved the lives of thousands of Muslims by going to war in Kosovo… so he clearly believed in the power of ‘just war’ and probably had the same good intentions.
Unlike the USA (whose motives for middleastern war I believe were corrupt). How exactly did the UK or Toby Blair benefit?! Donald Rumsfelds own gas and oil firm took the rights to Afghan natural gas, Bush whi was weak galvanised the country behind him and used the war politically, the Republicans repaid their billionaire backers in the arms trade with lucrative war soending… but what did the UK get?! Nothing positive. Tomy was perhaps naive – yes but a crook no. The war cost him his political career and villified him. All the money he has made since as a speaker etc. Is DESPITE not because of the war. Because of other good work he did.
People have such selective memories, its so hard to have a sensible conversation about the Middle Eastern wars now days.
January 29, 2016 at 11:08 am |
SO GLAD TO READ THE DEFENCES OF TONY BLAIRE. TIME WILL TELL A TRUER STORY THAN THAT TOLD BY THE POPULAR PRESS. READ THE FIRST 50 ACHIEVEMENTS OF TONY BLAIRE (ABOVE)..