John Redwood

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RT HON JOHN REDWOOD MP  WOKINGHAM TIMES 9.05.07

Tony Blair is now saying his long good-bye. On Wednesday last week he told the Cabinet and his constituency – but not Parliament – that he was resigning immediately as Labour leader, and as Prime Minister on June 27th.

His resignation speech in Sedgefield contained some good points and some moving lines. He told those who were listening that we have to judge him now, and claimed he had always believed what he was doing was right. He acknowledged how unpopular his decision to go to war in Iraq had proved, and claimed that the last ten years had been characterised  by economic success.

It is true that the world economy as a whole has enjoyed a good ten years. The strong growth of the USA, India and China, has been augmented by strong downward pressure on prices worldwide coming from the ever growing array of keenly priced good products coming from Asia. In the early Brown/Blair years they built on the recovery of the economy that started in 1993, and strengthened the position, keeping to Conservative plans. It was only later that Mr. Brown started to spend and borrow as if it were going out of fashion, making it more difficult for the Bank to keep the lid on inflation.

It is one of those ironies of history that on the very day Mr Blair was making his claims about UK economic success the Bank of England put interest rates up again, shortly after admitting that prices were rising more quickly than they should. People in Wokingham with mortgages and business borrowing are feeling the pinch from the substantial rise in interest costs of the last couple of years. Over the last decade the UK has paid more to borrow than the USA, Japan or Euroland, and we have still ended up with higher inflation. Meanwhile 5.3 million people of working age are without work living on benefits, the trade deficit is at record levels and one million manufacturing jobs have gone over the last ten years. It would not be wise for the new Prime Minister to be complacent about our economic situation. There was no mention of the big tax rises that have been one of the hallmarks of the last decade, or the shattered hopes of many who ten years ago belonged to pension schemes that had enough money to pay the pensions.

We can be grateful to Tony Blair for carrying on John Major’s sterling work in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.  It is fitting tribute to the Prime Minister’s  perseverance  that we saw remarkable pictures of old enemies trying to work together democratically before Tony Blair announced his departure. Comparing Tony Blair’s performances in the Commons with Gordon Brown’s, I think Labour will miss him. We will all miss his light and shade, his humour, his ability to change tone and to show sympathy where necessary. For the Opposition our sense of loss will be tempered by the thought that it makes our task easier!

The next few weeks are going to be a strange transition. The absence of a heavyweight contender against Gordon Brown takes the interest out of the Labour leadership process. In the meantime government is grinding to a halt, as Ministers wonder nervously whether they will still have jobs in two months time, or dream of better jobs they hope they will  be getting. The sooner it is out of the way the  better for the country, as we need new energy and determination to tackle the problems in health, education, transport, law and order and many other areas.