At last. Tony Blair has finally announced the date for his departure. With typical Blair showmanship he's managed to spin the resignation of an unpopular Prime Minister into a celebration of a decade of hagiocracy.

One thing on which Blair and I do agree: his "legacy" will be with us for years to come.

Credit where it's due, part of Blair's legacy must be his role in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland. For that I congratulate him. Unfortunately that achievement is overshadowed by his role in helping to bring war to Iraq.

Blair's long term legacy won't be measured in terms of peace and war but in terms of freedom and authority. Blair's government has presided over a massive erosion of civil liberties and a destruction of privacy in the UK. Unless Gordon Brown repeals the Identity Cards Act 2006 then the compulsory ID Card and National Identity Register (NIR) will eat away at the UK for decades to come.

This isn't a short term problem. As NO2ID said, "Blair is not Hitler. But he is building the tools of totalitarianism". Sooner or later those tools will be abused - the clock is ticking.

It probably won't affect you or me much, but what about your children and grandchildren? They may learn to curse Blair's name as his legacy turns the UK into Airstrip One.


Blair Tony Blair Trimdon UK politicsukpolitics