Tony Blair donating book money

[bridge too far]

He is making mega money already from his time as PM - without the book profits.

As usual, his PR people have told him he needs to pull this stunt in an attempt at damage limitation.

 

He couldn't wait to ditch politics and England to get on the gravy train of 'world statesman'.

 

Most former PM's stay on in Parliament as a backbencher.

 

 

I am so pleased that finally most people see him for what he really is.

 

Ted Heath - biographies and other books

 

Margaret Thatcher - spent two years on the backbenches. Wrote her memoirs

 

John Major - left the Commons in 2001 (4 years after his defeat as PM). Commands £25K per after-dinner speech. Chairman of the Carlyle Group.

 

Gordon Brown - still a backbencher.

 

Oh and Tony Blair receives no income for his role as Middle East Peace Envoy.

Edited 17 August, 2010 by bridge too far

[mcjwills]

Fair play to him for doing it. Doesn't really matter why, a good charity gets a load of money.

 

Here Here

[Redondo Saint]

Ted Heath - biographies and other books

 

Margaret Thatcher - spent two years on the backbenches. Wrote her memoirs

 

John Major - left the Commons in 2001 (4 years after his defeat as PM). Commands £25K per after-dinner speech. Chairman of the Carlyle Group.

 

Gordon Brown - still a backbencher.

 

Oh and Tony Blair receives no income for his role as Middle East Peace Envoy.

 

 

That's my point.

 

In addition, both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan remained as MP's after they left office. They had a strong belief in public service, as opposed to Tony's strong belief in self service.

 

Just my opinion and pleased more money will be going to a valuable charity.

[Thedelldays]

Human Rights legislation is Europe wide - it's not the perogative of a British PM to 'tailor make' them.

 

It's silly to equate QCs with ambulance chasers. That's like comparing a heart surgeon to a school nurse, or a chief constable to a wheel clamper

 

or a hospital support worker to an army officer..?

[Thedelldays]

Tony Blair made mistakes, but the length to which some people think he lies and schemes is beyond me. On a Daily Mail article I was reading the other day about this donation someone had commented something along the lines of 'Don't believe him, he's lying' and it had been liked hundreds of times. Some people are just dumb.

 

of course blair made mistakes...everyone makes mistakes...the british forgive people for that...

blair was a monster....look at the fuking state of the country...yes it is a world problem but we are fooked beyong belief...

wonder over to down town basra and ask them folk what they think of blair..?

 

fuking murderer...what worse still, I played a part of his lies and help bring about the mess in that country

[bridge too far]

or a hospital support worker to an army officer..?

 

Nope - two different professions. Doesn't work.

 

However, if you'd said squaddie to a Field Marshal (I don't know army ranks - the top dog, you know what I mean) well, that you would show that you'd grasped the comparisons.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Ted Heath - biographies and other books

 

Margaret Thatcher - spent two years on the backbenches. Wrote her memoirs

 

John Major - left the Commons in 2001 (4 years after his defeat as PM). Commands £25K per after-dinner speech. Chairman of the Carlyle Group.

 

Gordon Brown - still a backbencher.

 

Oh and Tony Blair receives no income for his role as Middle East Peace Envoy.

 

And thank **** for that. I know that someone said "satire is dead" after Kissinger was awarded the nobel peace prize but this Blair being made Middle East peace envoy has got just as much "what the ****?!" written all over it.

 

I don't think anyone is saying that no other ex-PM has ever made a few bucks but Blair has taken it to a new level, why anyone - least of all a left leaning liberal which I think you are - would defend Blair is puzzling.

[Saintandy666]

of course blair made mistakes...everyone makes mistakes...the british forgive people for that...

blair was a monster....look at the fuking state of the country...yes it is a world problem but we are fooked beyong belief...

wonder over to down town basra and ask them folk what they think of blair..?

 

fuking murderer...what worse still, I played a part of his lies and help bring about the mess in that country

 

If you look at the state of public services and many other things when Tony Blair left, we were in an excellent position. The world recession unfortunately has hit that, but our public debt is still lower than most other developed countries.

[OldNick]

If you look at the state of public services and many other things when Tony Blair left, we were in an excellent position. The world recession unfortunately has hit that, but our public debt is still lower than most other developed countries.

 

United Kingdom Uk was run in a similar way to PFC, unsustainable debt that is hidden and only at the resort will it come to light.

[Saintandy666]

United Kingdom Uk was run in a similar way to PFC, unsustainable debt that is hidden and only at the resort will it come to light.

 

And you have proof of this do you?

[OldNick]

And you have proof of this do you?

 

of course i have, I have all state information fed to me.

[Saintandy666]

of course i have, I have all state information fed to me.

 

Of course, how could I be so stupid.

[OldNick]

Of course, how could I be so stupid.

 

don't be hard on yourself, an easy mistake to make

[Eastcowzer]

Do you think Tony Blair is trying to assuage his guilt over the Iraq war or is it a genuine offer of kindness? I must admit knowing how much he likes money, the announcement did surprise me.

 

Just what any self-respecting 'shyster' would do. He was'nt named Teflon for nothing.

[Redondo Saint]

If you look at the state of public services and many other things when Tony Blair left, we were in an excellent position. The world recession unfortunately has hit that, but our public debt is still lower than most other developed countries.

 

You are kidding right?

[Saintandy666]

You are kidding right?

 

Nope, many things went wrong during Blairs years, and I will be the first to admit there were mistakes. However, you can hardly call his premiership a total disaster.

[Stu Man Do]

The Telegraph today suggested that only money "on top of" the 4.6million initial outlay of the publishers would go to the legion. This would mean Blair would need to sell well over a million copies of his book.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Nope, many things went wrong during Blairs years, and I will be the first to admit there were mistakes. However, you can hardly call his premiership a total disaster.

 

You are kidding right?

[Saintandy666]

You are kidding right?

 

Ok, how is his premiership a total disaster...

[Whitey Grandad]

Ok, how is his premiership a total disaster...

 

Oh dear. Obviously education was, for starters.

[Saintandy666]

Oh dear. Obviously education was, for starters.

 

Education standards are up.

[bridge too far]

Education standards are up.

 

Exceptional I know - but here's a good example.

 

Two state educated children:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11029642

[Whitey Grandad]

Education standards are up.

 

I was referring to yours

[Deppo]

Good to see Hurricane Katrina is dedicating the proceeds of her autobiography to the people of New Orleans.

[Saintandy666]

I was referring to yours

 

I got that I'm just being highly serious. This is the lounge after all.

[red&white56]

To answer the original question; i think it is a mixture of both kindness and guilt. I'm happy that he's done this, as he can afford it and it's a decent thing to do.

[Whitey Grandad]

I got that I'm just being highly serious. This is the lounge after all.

 

Point taken, you were right to correct me in this respect. Personally, I have experienced no evidence of improving standards in any of the public services, save perhaps health, but that has in no way reflected the vast amounts of borrowed money that have been poured down its gulleys.

 

However, I take my hat off to Blair for this action whatever his motives. Amongst other papers I read the Daily Mail and a few days ago they were trying to make capital out of the fact that he will, in their words, 'save' a lot of tax by giving money to charity. This 'saved' money will not go into his pockets, but will further enhance the value of his donations. They were trying to make a cheap and invalid point, in my opinion.

[Saintandy666]

Point taken, you were right to correct me in this respect. Personally, I have experienced no evidence of improving standards in any of the public services, save perhaps health, but that has in no way reflected the vast amounts of borrowed money that have been poured down its gulleys.

 

However, I take my hat off to Blair for this action whatever his motives. Amongst other papers I read the Daily Mail and a few days ago they were trying to make capital out of the fact that he will, in their words, 'save' a lot of tax by giving money to charity. This 'saved' money will not go into his pockets, but will further enhance the value of his donations. They were trying to make a cheap and invalid point, in my opinion.

 

Oh I loved that article so so much. It's just bullying and plain plain nasty reporting.

 

On Blair and public services, take one of them, education.

 

Well, under Blair, 35000 more teachers(reducing class sizes) were employed and the CPP was increased by nearly 50%... just two examples of many of what he did to improve education. And while this does not automatically mean higher education standards, his actions clearly led to this. It is true that the number of failing schools reduced. In addition to this, the number of pupils leaving school with better qualifications has increased drastically. I don't think that this is pure coincidence.

[hypochondriac]

Oh I loved that article so so much. It's just bullying and plain plain nasty reporting.

 

On Blair and public services, take one of them, education.

 

Well, under Blair, 35000 more teachers(reducing class sizes) were employed and the CPP was increased by nearly 50%... just two examples of many of what he did to improve education. And while this does not automatically mean higher education standards, his actions clearly led to this. It is true that the number of failing schools reduced. In addition to this, the number of pupils leaving school with better qualifications has increased drastically. I don't think that this is pure coincidence.

 

On the other hand, schools were increasingly subject to league tables and penalised if they were lower down. This just encourages teaching to pass an exam and gives a purely numbers based rating of a school without looking at other factors.

[Saintandy666]

On the other hand, schools were increasingly subject to league tables and penalised if they were lower down. This just encourages teaching to pass an exam and gives a purely numbers based rating of a school without looking at other factors.

 

True true, though what you are saying is a very cynical way of looking at it. The number of 'failing schools' under ofsted inspections(which isn't based on solely exam results) halved between 1997 and 2007.

[Whitey Grandad]

Education has not been the same since the abolition of the grammar schools. There aren't many of us left who remember them.

[Saintandy666]

Education has not been the same since the abolition of the grammar schools. There aren't many of us left who remember them.

 

Grammar schools were a very unfair way of doing things. Separating kids indefinitely at only 11 based on one test is harsh in my opinion and it creates a 2 tiered education system.

[hypochondriac]

True true, though what you are saying is a very cynical way of looking at it. The number of 'failing schools' under ofsted inspections(which isn't based on solely exam results) halved between 1997 and 2007.

 

It really isnt. As someone who is involved with teaching children, you can see the effect that league tables have. Schools offer so much more than just something you can see in a results league table. A school may be "failing" yet be one of the best schools I have been to. Results are better because schools generally teach to pass the exams and that's it and that is the fault of the government.

[Saintandy666]

It really isnt. As someone who is involved with teaching children, you can see the effect that league tables have. Schools offer so much more than just something you can see in a results league table. A school may be "failing" yet be one of the best schools I have been to. Results are better because schools generally teach to pass the exams and that's it and that is the fault of the government.

 

But that's why we use CVA these days as well. You can't deny the fact that failing schools by ofsted halved despite higher standards for inspections. Thatcher brought in school league tables as well, so can't just blame Blair if you believe they have led to falling standards.