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ntr
oduc
tion

I
f
wa nt
ound,ra
e
dt
the
hi
re
sbookt
a
s yt
obediffer
entf
oputdown.Sowha
rom thet
tyouwi
ra
di
l
t
lr
i
ona
e
a
lpol
dhe r
i
ei
t
icalme
snotac
moir
.Mos
onvent
i
ts
ona
uc
lde
hme
scr
i
moi
pti
rsar
e,Iha
onofwhoIme
ve
t
orwha tIdid.The r
eisarangeofe vents,date
s,otherpol
itic
iansa bs
entfrom it
,notbecausethe
ydon’t
ma tt
er,butbe causemya im wastowr it
enota sahistor
ian,butratherasaleader
.Thereha vebeenpl
entyof
accounts–a ndnodoubtwi llbemor e–oft hehist
oryofmyt enye ar
sasprimemi nis
ter,a
ndma nypeople
couldwr it
et hem.The rei
sonl yonepe r
sonwhoc anwriteana ccountofwha ti
tisli
ketobet hehuman
beinga tt
hec e
ntreofthathist
ory,andthat’sme.

Sot hisisapersonalaccount
;ades cr
ipti
onofaj ourneythroughac ert
ainper
iodofhis
toryinwhichmy
poli
t i
cal,andma ybetoac er
tai
nde greemypersona lchar
ac t
erevolvesandchange
s.Ibeginasonetypeof
le
ade r;Iendasa nother
.That’
swhyIc al
litajourney.Idescribe,ofcours
e,t
hema j
oreventsofmytime,
butIdos othr
ought heeyesofthepe r
sontaki
ngt hede ci
si
onsi nrela
tiontot
hem.Iti
snota nobje
cti
ve
account;itdoesn’tpre
tendtobe,thoughIhopei tisfair
.

Ihavealsowr i
tte
nitthe
ma t
icall
y,rat
herthanfol
lowingapr eci
sec hronology.Itistruethatmyt heme s
ess
entia
llystar
tin1997ande ndin2007;butwi t
hinthatframewor kIde alwithindividualsubject
s:for
example,thecomingtopowe r
;orNor t
he r
nIrel
and;orPrincessDi ana;or9/11;orIra q;orrefor
mi npubli
c
ser
vices;ortheOlympics
;orJ ul
y2005. Youcan,asare a
de r
,takeas ubjectandpr e
ttymuc hviewi ti
n
i
solat
ionifyouwi sht
o,thoughofc our
sethereareamul t
itudeofc ross-
refer
enc e
s.Somet hings
,likemy
rel
ati
onshipwi t
hGordonBr owna ndwithAme ri
canpresident
s,flowt hroughitall.

Be causeIhaver e
adautobi
ographi
esormemoi r
sthatbegi
nenthus
ias
ti
call
yandthentai
loffi
ndesperat
ion
andha s
teasthepubli
sher’
sdeadli
neappr
oa c
hes,Ial
sotooktheunus
ualst
epofwriti
ngthechapt
ersoutof
seque nce,t
ackli
ngsomeoft hehar
destf
ir
st,andtheeas
iestl
ast
.Iwante
dtokeepthesamepaceande nergy
t
hr oughout.Itookthr
eeyearstowrit
eit
.

Thisbooki saboveal
l,however
,notsi
mplyret
rospec
tive.Natur
all
y,s
inceitdealswi
thpastevents
,it
examinesthoseevent
sa st
heywereatthet
ime.ButI’m notreal
lyaret
rospec
tiveper
son.Ilookforwar
d.I
st
il
lha vemuc htodoandagr e
atamountofpurposei
nmyl i
fe.I
’m worki
nga shardasIhaveeverworked.
Iams til
lle
a r
ning.

Soa swellasus i
ngt hepa s
ttoill
umi nateis
sue st
hatar
es t
il
lprese
nt,AJ ourneyof t
enpr oject
sintothe
fut
ure.Part
icularlyinrespectofforeignaff
a i
rsaft
er9/1
1,andthec onf
li
c t
sinI r
a qandAf ghanis
tan,but
als
oi nres
pec tofma jorref
ormst ohe al
th,educati
on,welf
are,a
ndl awandor derwhi chpr eoccupyc ur
rent
governments,Is eektosetoutavi e
woft hewor l
dbothasitisanda si
tma ybe come ,nots i
mpl yasIfound
itwhilei
nof fice.Thelastchapte
rde alsspeci
fical
lywit
h2007–10a nd,sinceitdisagreeswi t
hmuc h
conventi
onalwi sdom aboutthefinanc i
alcri
sisandcont
inuingchal
lengesofs e
cur i
ty,itisverymuc h
engagedwitht oday’sdebateabouttoda y’
sissues.

Final
ly,t
hebookissomethi
ngofalet
ter(e
xtended!
)tot
hecountr
yIlove.Iwont hreegene
ralelect
ions
.
Upt othen,La
bourhadnevere
venwont wosuc c
essi
vef
ullt
erms.Thelonge
stLa bourgover
nme nthad
last
edsixyear
s.Thisl
ast
edthi
rt
een.I
tcouldhave,asIs
ayinthefi
nalchapt
er,goneonlonger,haditnot
abandonedNewLa bour
.

Thos evic tori

e scamea boutbe c ausetherewa sagr oupofpe oplewhof el
tthes amea sIdoa boutBr it
a in.
Tha titisagr eatcountry.Thatt heBr it
ishpe oplear e,a tt
heirbe s
t,brave,determine da nda dve nt
urous .But
thatwene edavi si
on,ac oncept,as enseofourpl acei nthewor l
dtoda yandi nourf uture,a swe llasa
str
ongr ega r
df orourpa st
.Thati swhyIwa sa ndre ma infir
sta ndforemos tnots omuc hapol i
tici
anof
tra
di ti
ona lleftorright,butamode r
niser.Iwa nt
edt omode rnisetheLa bourPa rt
ys oi twa sc apable,not
int
e rmitt
e ntlybutc ontinuously,ofof fe
ringapr ogressivea l
ternati
vetoCons er
va ti
ver ule.Iwa ntedto
mode r
niseBr i
tainsotha t,whiler et
ainingpr ideinha vi ngwor nthema nt
leoft hewor ld’smos tpowe rful
nationa st hetwe nti
ethc entur
ybe gan,itdidn’ tfe
elbe ref
tandi nde c
lineast hetwe nty-fi
rstc enturyar ri
ved,
beca usetha tma ntl
ewoul dnol onge rfi
t.Iwa ntedust obeana ti
onproudofbe ingtoda yal andofma ny
culturesa ndf ait
hs,brea kingnewgr ounda gai ns
tpr ejudiceofa nysort,payingmor ea t
tentiont ome ritthan
tocl as
s,a ndbe i
nga tea sewitha nope ns oci
e tyandgl obaleconomy .

TonyBl
air2010
Iwantedust ore
ali
s eane ws etofa mbit
ionsathomea nda broad.Wewoul dref
orm ourpublicservi
c esand
welf
aresta
tes oastoma ket hemc onsonantwi t
hthewor ldof2005,not1945.Wewoul duseour
membe r
shipofEur opeandoura ll
iancewi t
htheUni t
edSt a
testoinfl
uencethedecisi
onsofthewor ld,even
asourpowe rrel
ati
vetot hee mergingnationsdiminis
hed.Wewoul dpla
yane wr oleincont
inentssucha s
Afri
ca,aspartne
rsinde velopme nt
.Wewoul dforgeane wpol i
tic
s,inwhichsuccessf
ulente
rpris
ea nd
ambit
ionli
ve dcomf or
tablya l
ongsideas ociet
yofe qualopport
unityandcompassion.

Thebooks e
tsoutthea
ttemptst
oachievesuchavisi
on–i npar
tss
ucce
ssf
ul,inpart
snot,andthe
ref
ore
whatitdes
cri
besisawor ki
nprogres
s.Itgive
smyopi nionast
owhypowe r
fulfor
ces,l
eftandri
ght
,
dis
agreewit
hsuchavisionandtr
iedhardtoinhi
biti
t,butwhyIst
il
lbel
ieveiti
stheonlyhopeforBri
tai
n’s
fut
ure
.

Thoughmypol it
icsconsciouslyandde li
berat
elyr eac
he dbeyondt r
adit
ionallef
torr i
ght,itshouldn’tbe
thoughtfrom t
histhatIwa sora m disdai
nfulofpa rt
ypol i
tic
s.Inpa r
ti
cular
,a sIalwaysus edtosa y,Iowe
theLa bourPart
y,it
sme mbe r
s,supporter
sa ndactivi
sts,ahugede btofgrati
tude.Iputthe mthroughal ot
!
The ytookit,mostofthetime ,withquiteextra
ordinarydignityandloyalty
.Itistruethatmyhe a
dc a
n
some t
ime st
hinkconse r
vativel
ye specia
llyone conomic sandsecuri
ty;butmyhe arta
lwa ysbeats
progressi
ve,andmys ouli
sa nda l
wa yswi l
lbetha tofar e
bel.

TonyBl
air2010