The Blair Decade

Today’s New York Times gives the best — and shortest — summary of the Blair years, which have ended today with Gordon Brown taking over (and immediately restructuring education and science, about which more once I’ve digested it), and Blair signing on to apply his talents to the Middle East. The editorial correctly digests Blair’s combination of Thatcherite (Reaganite) free-market with Labour’s choice of issues and willingness to throw money at problems like health and education, even if not always successfully. They highlight his final, unabashed, success in Northern Ireland and lament the disaster of his decisions on Iraq. Unlike UK papers, the Times can say in so many words what we all know: “He didn’t tell the truth to British voters about when and why he decided to go to war and about the quality of the intelligence he used to justify that decision. (But they pay homage to British newspapers in their sad, punning headline, “The Which Blair Project.”)