大象传媒

Frank Luntz's discussion with the Birmingham voters was interesting. At the start they mostly seemed to rate the PM badly. But once people actually thought about Tony Blair and what he had done, most of them conceded that he had not actually been the devil incarnate, and had achieved one or two things, come to think of it!

But Iraq seems to be his achilles heel. And yet, Iraq is not yet over. It must be that they consider the accumulating deaths there (at the hands of insurgents, NOT coalition troops) over-rules every other consideration about our Prime Minister. They can't imagine that it might just have been worse if this terror had not been tackled and brought to the forefront of our minds. It wouldn't have gone away, though, yes, I concede it might have been a few more years with only a few more bombs in Bali or North Africa to remind the world of the threat. Years when more grooming of terror would have continued unabated, maturing more misguided sacrifices to "the cause".

And I see Tony Blair completely differently as a leader. Why?

Well, unlike most of the people on the programme I have NEVER voted Labour. I was pleased when he got in, but didn't expect a lot. But I will vote Labour now in May. Partly so that I can say I voted for this reforming Labour government while it was still led by the greatest Labour leader for decades. Partly because I am not inspired by any other party. Partly because I like Blair's Britain. But mainly because I admire Tony Blair as a leader and politician, and am impressed by his legacy. I'm even impressed by his approach to Iraq!!

Despite everything he is accused of, he has the strength of character not to disintegrate before our eyes, for which he could be forgiven.

Despite knowing he has been pushed aside by many in his own shortsighted and forgetful party he still looks like a politician with unfinished business and refuses to slow down, until the end. Even now policies are being implemented and brought to fruition by Mr Blair, personally. I can think of many areas of our daily lives where changes have been made which we kind of ignore or even forget.

And although the death count in Iraq makes some call him names which I sincerely hope his little boy is never taunted with at school, the alternative could have been SO, SO much worse. We should be grateful that we have a leader who recognises the threat of international terrorism. If he didn't, or pushed it aside as being a bit too worrying to deal with, one day one of our Prime Ministers would have to deal with it. Possibly only after the country's water or air had been poisoned by WMDs. They DO exist, as witnessed by Litvinenko's easy dispatch in London before Christmas. Do you want a PM who sits back and lets events happen and then tries to patch up the consequences? Me, I prefer Tony Blair ANY day.

I for one would like to thank him for all he's done for this country, and for making me proud to be British. Sorry, any "moaning poms" reading this in incredulous disgust. But I mean it; sincerely. Thus my blog - Keep Tony Blair For PM.

Thank you Mr Blair. And I'm proud of you too, by the way, as one of the world's great leaders. I suspect more of us will come to realise this in years to come.