Tony Blair resigns, Brown takes over

LONDON – Tony Blair resigned as prime minister yesterday after a decade in power – heading for a new role in the Middle East while Treasury chief Gordon Brown succeeds him.

Blair held a 25-minute meeting with Queen Elizabeth II to tender his resignation and is expected to quit as a lawmaker later in the day to take up his post with the Quartet of Mideast peace mediators. Brown, a 56-year-old Scot known for his often stern demeanour, beamed as he was applauded by Treasury staff before heading with his wife, Sarah, to the palace to be confirmed as prime minister.A visibly emotional Blair used his final weekly questions session with legislators to say sorry for the perils faced by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but gave no apology for his decisions to back the United States in taking military action.”I wish everyone – friend or foe – well,” Blair said before departing the chamber to cheers.”And that is that.The end.”Legislators rose to their feet and gave the outgoing leader rapturous applause as he left the House of Commons chamber to head to a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II.Some, including Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, dabbed at tears.US President George W Bush paid a final tribute to his ally and will later call Blair’s successor with congratulations.”Tony’s had a great run and history will judge him kindly,” Bush told Britain’s The Sun tabloid in remarks published yesterday.”I’ve heard he’s been called Bush’s poodle.He’s bigger than that.”Bush is thought to have been instrumental in winning Blair his new role as envoy to the Quartet of Mideast peace mediators.Irish leader Bertie Ahern said Blair had told him the job would be “tricky,” but said he wanted to focus on peacemaking.Protestant firebrand Ian Paisley, the Northern Ireland cleric and legislator who Blair persuaded to work alongside the territory’s Catholic minority – achieving peace after decades of bloodshed, also paid tribute in the House of Commons.The departing chief faced “another colossal task” as a peace envoy, Paisley said, adding he hoped Blair’s success in Northern Ireland would be repeated.Blair took the 1,5-kilometre ride with wife Cherie from his Downing Street office to the palace in a sliver chauffeur-driven, armour-plated limousine known as Pegasus, departing with a private gift from the monarch.Incoming leader, the taciturn Treasury chief Gordon Brown, was summoned to the Queen’s private quarters shortly after, where she will formally confirm him as prime minister during a closed-doors audience.Blair was heading to northern England, where he has called a meeting with officials in the area he represents to resign as a British legislator, his staff said.Brown was preparing to begin the job he’s long waited to hold.Nampa-APBrown, a 56-year-old Scot known for his often stern demeanour, beamed as he was applauded by Treasury staff before heading with his wife, Sarah, to the palace to be confirmed as prime minister.A visibly emotional Blair used his final weekly questions session with legislators to say sorry for the perils faced by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but gave no apology for his decisions to back the United States in taking military action.”I wish everyone – friend or foe – well,” Blair said before departing the chamber to cheers.”And that is that.The end.”Legislators rose to their feet and gave the outgoing leader rapturous applause as he left the House of Commons chamber to head to a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II.Some, including Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, dabbed at tears.US President George W Bush paid a final tribute to his ally and will later call Blair’s successor with congratulations.”Tony’s had a great run and history will judge him kindly,” Bush told Britain’s The Sun tabloid in remarks published yesterday.”I’ve heard he’s been called Bush’s poodle.He’s bigger than that.”Bush is thought to have been instrumental in winning Blair his new role as envoy to the Quartet of Mideast peace mediators.Irish leader Bertie Ahern said Blair had told him the job would be “tricky,” but said he wanted to focus on peacemaking.Protestant firebrand Ian Paisley, the Northern Ireland cleric and legislator who Blair persuaded to work alongside the territory’s Catholic minority – achieving peace after decades of bloodshed, also paid tribute in the House of Commons.The departing chief faced “another colossal task” as a peace envoy, Paisley said, adding he hoped Blair’s success in Northern Ireland would be repeated.Blair took the 1,5-kilometre ride with wife Cherie from his Downing Street office to the palace in a sliver chauffeur-driven, armour-plated limousine known as Pegasus, departing with a private gift from the monarch.Incoming leader, the taciturn Treasury chief Gordon Brown, was summoned to the Queen’s private quarters shortly after, where she will formally confirm him as prime minister during a closed-doors audience.Blair was heading to northern England, where he has called a meeting with officials in the area he represents to resign as a British legislator, his staff said.Brown was preparing to begin the job he’s long waited to hold.Nampa-AP

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