British Prime Minister (1953- )
She was the people's princess and that is how she will stay, how she will remain in our hearts and our memories for ever.
TONY BLAIR
statement on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 31 August 1997
The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth. So it has been an honour to serve it. I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times that I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short. But good luck.
TONY BLAIR
announcing his impending resignation, Trimdon Labour Club, 10 May 2007
Bluntly, what Labour has stood for in terms of values has been magnificent; its achievements in government huge; but as a political competitor, it has too often been a failure. It has only once been elected for two successive full terms; only once for three; and both as New Labour, a period much of today's party wants to disown.
TONY BLAIR
New Statesman, February 20, 2020
Any parent wants the best for their children. I am not going to make a choice for my child on the basis of what is the politically correct thing to do.
TONY BLAIR
defending his decision to send his eldest son Euan to the London Oratory School which had opted out of local education authority control under a policy which the Labour Party opposed, "Mr. Blair Opts Out", Guardian, 2 December 1994
We became complacent; we became the managers of the status quo, not the change makers, and we've got to renew the center.
TONY BLAIR
interview, Politico, September 25, 2017
When we invade Afghanistan or Iraq, our responsibility does not end with military victory. Finishing the fighting is not finishing the job.
TONY BLAIR
speech to joint session of the U.S. Congress, July 17, 2003
What always happens, in my experience, is that people always think American politics is very different, but usually it is a predictor of what happens in the politics elsewhere.
TONY BLAIR
interview, Politico, August 24, 2016
Moderates are not moderate through weakness but through strength.
TONY BLAIR
speech to the Labour Party National Policy Forum, 16 July 2005
But all progressive movements have to beware their own successes. The progress they make reinvents the society they work in, and they must in turn reinvent themselves to keep up, otherwise they become hollow echoes from a once loud, strong voice, reverberating still, but to little effect. As their consequence diminishes, so their dwindling adherents become ever more shrill and strident, more solicitous of protecting their own shrinking space rather than understanding that the voice of the times has moved on and they must listen before speaking. It happens in all organizations. It is fatal to those who are never confronted by a reckoning that forces them to face up and get wise.
TONY BLAIR
A Journey: My Political Life
The reality is that as a result of the changing context in which 21st communications operate, the media are facing a hugely more intense form of competition than anything they have ever experienced before. They are not actually the masters of this change, they are in many ways the victims. The result however is a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by impact. Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamour, can get noticed. Impact gives competitive edge. Of course the accuracy of the story counts, but it is secondary often to impact. It is this necessary devotion to impact that is unravelling standards, driving them down, making the diversity of the media not the strength it should be, but an impulsion towards sensation above all else.
TONY BLAIR
lecture, "Our Nation's Future", 12 June 2007