Yo, Blair!: Tony Blair's Disastrous Premiership

This is a book written to confirm preconceptions the author's preconceptions. It makes no pretence at balanced. In fact this book froths at the mouth with self righteous indignation. Read it if you think you will agree with it, but don't bother if you actually want an insight into the events of the Blair decade.

Well written-But some very questionable claims and laced with bias- 2.5 stars (2/5 people found this helpful)

After seeing all the 5 star reviews for this book, I felt I needed to counter them with one of my own. Although it is well written, funny, and provides some good analysis of both Blair's political leadership and his personality, the author also twists and distorts facts to suit his argument, refuses to give any credit whatsoever even when credit is due, and bases his argument on his own opinion.
Examples

"In one poll only 22 percent thought the retaliation in lebanaon was justified" when criticising Blair for refusing to call a ceasefire. I agree with the point. However, the reader is not told how many people were questioned in the poll, which people were questioned, or where. Therefore it is rendered completely irrelevant and cannot be trusted.

when talking about banning of guns "law abiding citizens were deprived of the right to own small arms for any purpose; British exponents of the Olympic sport of pistol shooting are obliged to travel abroad to practice their harmless pastime; the ownership of handguns has been confined to two classes: employess of the state and professional criminals; and gun crime has increased throughout Great Britain with every year since the law has passed" This is very dubious for several reasons. First of all, how would Mr Wheatcroft define "law abiding citizens"? I wonder if he'd find the situation in American satisfactory? where the reason they are so trigger happy is exactly because 'law abiding citizens' can own guns. The claim that the 'ownership of handguns' is confined to 'professional criminals' is also nonsense, because the whole point of making guns illegal is to make anyone who uses them a criminal. Also, there could be many reasons why gun crime has risen every year since the law has passed. It could be drugs, poverty, etc etc.

There are many more examples like this. But, if you're going to read this book, just be careful!

Yo, Blair! by Geoffrey Wheatcroft (3/3 people found this helpful)

This revealing account of the Blair years must rank as one of the most important books of our time. Geoffrey Wheatcroft is to be commended for his diligent exposé.

Anyone who has ever entertained any doubts about the integrity of our ex-prime minister, will have their eyes wide open after reading this damning indictment of one of the most corrupt politicians in British history.

My only regret is that the book clearly hasn't received the publicity it deserves, since I came upon it by mere chance.

Mark Frankel

Yo, Blair - the story of a fool's journey through No.10 (2/2 people found this helpful)

Anyone who believes in New Labour should read this book. Sure it is dripping with loathing for the man, but it also contains plenty of evidence to support its main thesis; namely, he was not too bright, he was irresponsible and he lied to the British parliament and people on more than one occasion. And oh yes, he had (has) an incredibly inflated opinion about his abilities in all quarters. It probably was produced in a hurry or else employed poor quality proof readers, since there are quite a few minor typographical errors, but these are technicalities.

A good entertaining and at times highly disturbing read.

damn, fooled again! (9/11 people found this helpful)

This guy really hates Blair. He is obsessed with dissecting every word, every speech, every utterance in defence of his thesis that Blair was the most manipulative of politicians, together with the complete baggage of self delusion, vanity, self serving money obsession and all the rest. If that is what you need to hear, in exhaustive detail, then this is the book for you.

However, whoever said that politics was more than the dirtiest of business, why expect anything else. Peel the top off any politician - and their ghastly wives - and there's the same-worm ridden pathological mess of self righteous pomposity and corruption.

I favour Jeremy Paxman's view of politicians i.e. the only sensible view is that of a dog towards a lamp post. Goffrey Wheatcroft has to make a living, but there's not much here that we didn't know already without labouring the point for a hundred and fifty four pages.

And by the way, look at the alternative, look at the bunch of self serving toadying gangsters that went before.

I suppose history will look back on Blair's tenancy and wonder how we all got wooled like we did; a wrecked economy in the worst mess since well, forever, an unnecessary war that probably dragged us that much further towards Armageddon, the toxic legacy of Afghanistan, the continuing Israel-Palestinian mess, the nightly metropolitan gang stabbings, the filthiest hospitals, the pathetic multiply failing Home Office, the highest youth pregnancy in Europe and an ever richer and more powerful elite with their grubby gilded snouts ever deeper in the expense account economy. All that wool pulling, all that glitter and gloss and how much worse could it actually have been?

At the start of Blair's tenancy there was that OBama feeling, that here was somebody with a vision at last, who could do some real good with real politics, but hey ho, nothing changes, the Lords are still there, the Monarchy is still there, the Archbishops, the sink estates, the people in funny hats, even the fox hunters are still there.

The book was written before Blair's reincarnation as Middle East Fixer and I imagine that act of sheer incomprehensible world lunacy would have been the last gasket blowing, cake icing straw for Mr Wheatcroft. Anyway, enough from me. I'm off to live in a cave, I'm sick of all of them.

Yo, Blair!: Tony Blair's Disastrous Premiership

Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Reader Reviews:

Rabid (0/7 people found this helpful)

Well written-But some very questionable claims and laced with bias- 2.5 stars (2/5 people found this helpful)

Yo, Blair! by Geoffrey Wheatcroft (3/3 people found this helpful)

Yo, Blair - the story of a fool's journey through No.10 (2/2 people found this helpful)

damn, fooled again! (9/11 people found this helpful)

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