Tony Blair's decade of peace and war
Britain's leader, who announced he will step down June 27, leaves a mixed legacy, from Northern Ireland to Iraq.
from the May 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 4
Naheed Rahmani, a first-generation Briton born to parents from the subcontinent, says that although she believes that Britain remains a tolerant and inclusive society, Muslims feel a backlash from the antiterror effort most keenly. "There is no doubt that Asians, and Muslims in particular, face a greater degree of scrutiny than ever before, with nationality tests, debates over immigrants and language, raids on Muslim homes, and national debates on veil wearing," she says.
But a new authoritarian streak also affects asylum seekers, who face more complex procedures. Criminals face tougher sentences; the prison population has almost doubled. A new catch-all crime of antisocial behavior has snared all sorts of troubled souls, from local nuisances to the unstable and marginalized. Blair once said minor delinquents should be frogmarched to ATM machines to pay fines.
"When he promised to be tough on ... the causes of crime, he must have found an 'r' on the floor of Downing Street, and became tough on the causers of crime," says Lord David Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of prisons who regrets the lack of effort to deal with problems that give rise to crime. "There have been torrents of legislation ... which have merely resulted in increasing the prisoner rate."
"It's a more totalitarian society, with much more direction and minute control from above," he adds.
Surveillance and CCTV have soared; ID cards are to be introduced. Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has warned of "sleepwalking to a surveillance society." The latest idea is for a talking CCTV camera to relay orders to miscreants.
Health, education, transport reform
The centerpiece of Blair's domestic agenda was reform of public services. Opinion is deeply divided as to whether tens of billions of extra pounds pumped into health, education, and transport systems have rescued the nation's infrastructure from a generation of chronic underinvestment. Blair claims hospital waiting lists are shorter and staff lists longer. He says getting private finance to underwrite new hospitals and schools has accelerated building. His supporters say he has made a big difference to primary education, improving opportunity for all.
"He can take credit for trying to put right the neglect of the Thatcher era which was really serious in the health service and schools," says Paul Whiteley of Essex University. "Investment in public services has clearly made them a lot better."
But critics say that privately built hospitals and schools are proving more costly in the long run. Some hospitals are being downsized. "Despite a huge injection of cash, local health authorities are running out of money," warned Douglas McWilliams, an economics consultant, adding that transport problems were getting worse "despite a near doubling in the transport budget."
But the fact that Blair's Conservative adversary David Cameron has firmly committed his party to the public service renewal agenda vindicates Blair and assures his legacy.
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