Blair’s speech scores top marks in British press

LONDON – British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s last speech as Labour leader at the party’s annual conference was given a resounding thumbs-up in the British press yesterday, with one calling it his best ever.

The Guardian, a left-of-centre daily and a traditional Labour backer, gushed in its editorial page: “Shining the bright beam of his oratory and intellect across Labour’s decade in power, Tony Blair yesterday astounded his party with a speech that impressively illuminated New Labour’s achievements while leaving its weaknesses and failures in the shadows. In a speech that “placed him in history”, Blair had, the paper said: “For a moment … raised politics above the merely temporal.””He conversed with his party in a way that no other British politician can, both thrilling it and challenging it as he loves to do.”Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph, a right-of-centre paper, highlighted the differences between Blair’s speech and that of Chancellor of the Exchequer and likely successor Gordon Brown the previous day.”Tony Blair’s last conference speech as party leader was everything that Gordon Brown’s the day before had not been: sharp in its political critique, humanly engaging, witty without being frivolous, and sufficiently original in its insights to be genuinely interesting,” the paper’s editorial began.It concluded: “Mr Blair ended by reminding his party …that he had won three elections.The lesson was clear: he was a proven winner and would be a damnably hard act to follow.”The Times, another right-of-centre daily, echoed some of the Telegraph’s sentiments, noting that Blair “could have delivered an address that was laced with sugar and sentimentality or indulged in a crowd-pleasing populism devoid of difficult issues.””Instead, we witnessed the artistry of a political master whose powers are undiminished.””His exit has set a new and very high standard for his successor.”Nampa-AFPIn a speech that “placed him in history”, Blair had, the paper said: “For a moment … raised politics above the merely temporal.””He conversed with his party in a way that no other British politician can, both thrilling it and challenging it as he loves to do.”Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph, a right-of-centre paper, highlighted the differences between Blair’s speech and that of Chancellor of the Exchequer and likely successor Gordon Brown the previous day.”Tony Blair’s last conference speech as party leader was everything that Gordon Brown’s the day before had not been: sharp in its political critique, humanly engaging, witty without being frivolous, and sufficiently original in its insights to be genuinely interesting,” the paper’s editorial began.It concluded: “Mr Blair ended by reminding his party …that he had won three elections.The lesson was clear: he was a proven winner and would be a damnably hard act to follow.”The Times, another right-of-centre daily, echoed some of the Telegraph’s sentiments, noting that Blair “could have delivered an address that was laced with sugar and sentimentality or indulged in a crowd-pleasing populism devoid of difficult issues.””Instead, we witnessed the artistry of a political master whose powers are undiminished.””His exit has set a new and very high standard for his successor.”Nampa-AFP