British Prime Minister (1953- )
I had discovered long ago the first lesson of political courage: to think anew. I had then learned the second: to be prepared to lead and to decide. I was now studying the third: how to take the calculated risk. I was going to alienate some people, like it or not. The moment you decide, you divide.
TONY BLAIR
A Journey: My Political Life
When we invade Afghanistan or Iraq, our responsibility does not end with military victory. Finishing the fighting is not finishing the job.
TONY BLAIR
speech to joint session of the U.S. Congress, July 17, 2003
Ask me my three main priorities for government, and I tell you: education, education and education.
TONY BLAIR
The Times, 2 October 1996
We can correct our historical and contemporary weaknesses; or be consumed by them.
TONY BLAIR
New Statesman, December 18, 2019
The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive, non-Conservative competitor for power in British politics; or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced.
TONY BLAIR
New Statesman, December 18, 2019
In today's world, with these great populist currents of feeling, you can either ride the anger, or you can provide the answer.
TONY BLAIR
interview, Politico, September 25, 2017
Before people crow about the absence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, I suggest they wait a bit.
TONY BLAIR
Prime Minister's monthly press conference, 28 April 2003
I didn't come into politics to change the Labour Party. I came into politics to change the country.
TONY BLAIR
speech to the Labour Party conference, 3 October 1995
I can stand here today, leader of the Labour Party, Prime Minister, and say to the British people: you have never had it so ... prudent.
TONY BLAIR
speech to the Labour Party conference, 28 September 1999
Ideals survive through change. They die through inertia in the face of challenge.
TONY BLAIR
speech to the European Parliament, 23 June 2005
Socialism for me was never about nationalization or the power of the state, not just about economics or even politics. It is a moral purpose to life, a set of values, a belief in society, in co-operation, in achieving together what we cannot achieve alone. It is how I try to live my life, how you try to live yours--the simple truths--I am worth no more than anyone else, I am my brother's keeper, I will not walk by on the other side. We are not simply people set in isolation from one another, face to face with eternity, but members of the same family, same community, same human race. This is my socialism and the irony of all our long years in opposition is that those values are shared by the vast majority of the British people.
TONY BLAIR
attributed, "Socialism Is So Hot Right Now", Commentary, 17 September 2018
He wants a Bill of Rights for Britain drafted by a Committee of Lawyers. Have you ever tried drafting anything with a Committee of Lawyers?
TONY BLAIR
Labour Party Conference speech, 26 September 2006
We've tried three forms of intervention in the Middle East; we've tried full-on intervention in Iraq, we've tried semi-intervention in Libya, and we tried non-intervention or very limited intervention in Syria. All of them are difficult.
TONY BLAIR
interview, Politico, September 25, 2017
You cannot teach people hate and then ask them to practice peace. But neither can you teach people peace except by according them dignity and granting them hope.
TONY BLAIR
speech to joint session of the U.S. Congress, July 17, 2003
Broadsheets today face the same pressures as tabloids, broadcasters increasingly the same pressure as broadsheets. The audience needs to be arrested, held and their emotions engaged, something that is interesting is less powerful than something that makes you angry or shocked. And the consequences of this are acute. First, scandal or controversy beats ordinary reporting hands down. News is rarely news unless it generates heat as much as or more than light. Second, attacking motive is far more potent than attacking judgment. It is not enough for someone to make an error, it has to be venal, conspiratorial.
TONY BLAIR
lecture, "Our Nation's Future", 12 June 2007
A new dawn has broken, has it not?
TONY BLAIR
victory speech at Labour election-night party, Royal Festival Hall, London, 2 May 1997
What amazes me is how many people are happy for Saddam to stay. They ask why we don't get rid of Mugabe, why not the Burmese lot. Yes, let's get rid of them all. I don't because I can't, but when you can you should.
TONY BLAIR
New York Times, 5 September 2003
We must redefine what radical means. We're living through a technology revolution which is the 21st-century equivalent of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. It will change everything and therefore everything should change including radical reorientation of government. This is the context in which we tackle inequality, promote social justice and redistribute power.
TONY BLAIR
New Statesman, February 20, 2020
The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth. So it has been an honour to serve it. I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times that I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short. But good luck.
TONY BLAIR
announcing his impending resignation, Trimdon Labour Club, 10 May 2007
How hollow would the charges of American imperialism be when these failed countries are and are seen to be transformed from states of terror to nations of prosperity, from governments of dictatorship to examples of democracy, from sources of instability to beacons of calm.
TONY BLAIR
speech to joint session of the U.S. Congress, July 17, 2003