Dear Tony, It’s Time To Go….

The time is almost up for Prime Minister Tony Blair. The one time saviour of the Labour Party has become so unpopular that members of his administration are calling for a quick exit. He will step down as prime minister within a year, some of his closest allies are saying.

The UK rejoiced at the sight of the young Prime Minister who led the Labour Party to Government in 1997. With eighteen years of Conservative rule “Things can only get better” was sung by everyone. He was admired by many people all round the world (even the US citizens were complaining why its President was not like him), times have changed, D:Ream became a nightmare as the behaviour of the Prime Minister became questionable following the decision to invade Iraq.

History will not judge kindly. He will always be remembered for being addressed as “Yo Blair!” and by the way he addressed the President of the United States at the G8 meeting.

As George Galloway said: “His special relationship is similar to the one Miss Lewinsky had with President Clinton: its one-sided, it’s grotesquely unequal, and with the weaker partner always on their knees”.

Tom Watson (now ex-junior minister) and seven parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) were among a number of normally loyal Labour MPs who signed a letter calling on Mr Blair to quit. The seven were: Khalid Mahmood, Wayne David, Ian Lucas, Mark Tami, Chris Mole, David Wright and Iain Wright. Copies of the letters have been pasted below. At local level, many supporters are leaving the party at an alarming rate in protest of the Prime Ministers policies.

It is understood that Labour experts are already planning Tony Blair's exit from No10. The retirement blueprint aims to promote the "triumph of Blairism" and allow the PM to quit on a wave of euphoria after 10 years in office. The secret strategy - drawn up by a small group of loyalists - is well under way. Mr Blair's "farewell tour" includes plans to appear on Blue Peter, Songs of Praise and Chris Evans' radio show.

A reader in the metro newspaper wrote angrily “the only tour Mr Blair should contemplate is one to the various homes of those British soldiers who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Blair/ Bush wars. Maybe the tour could end at the UN’s international court of Justice in The Hague, where Mr Blair could answer the charges for taking Britain into the illegal war in Iraq. What an epitaph that would be."

From being one of the most popular Prime Ministers in Britain to one of the most hated, I hope people give him the respect he deserves. It is a shame that Tony Blair is being dragged out of office through the back door, he deserves better from his comrades but his failure to listen to them and also to the public will mean that he will have to pay the ultimate price - goodbye and thankyou.

Resignation Letters (taken from BBC website)
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TOM WATSON'S RESIGNATION

Dear Tony

The Labour Party has been my life since I was 15 years old.

I have served the party at every conceivable level and your own leadership since 1994 in a dozen different capacities, latterly as MP for West Bromwich East, a government whip, and as parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Defence.

My loyalty to you personally, as well as to the party and the values we stand for, has been absolute and unswerving.

The struggle to fashion the kind of credible, convincing, effective Labour Party you now lead has been the preoccupation of my adult years.

My pride in what our government has achieved under your leadership is beyond expression.

We have revolutionised the lives and expectations of millions of our citizens, combining social justice with prosperity in a way which is unprecedented in the history of our country.

Your leadership has been visionary and remarkable.

The party and the nation owes you an incalculable debt.

So it is with the greatest sadness that I have to say that I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country.

How and why this situation has arisen no longer matters.

I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country that the only way the party and the government can renew itself in office is urgently to renew its leadership.

For the sake of the legacy you have long said is the only one that matters - a renewed Labour party re-elected at the next general election - I urge you to reconsider your determination to remain in office.

As you know, I had a conversation with the chief whip last night, in which she asked me to withdraw my support from the 2001 intake's letter calling on you to stand down, or my position would be untenable as a government minister.

I have reflected on this overnight.

I cannot withdraw my name, and therefore I accept her judgement.

I do not believe that statements so far give us the clarity necessary to progress over the next year.

Nor do I believe that newspaper reports of potential dates which may have appeared since I signed the 2001 intake's letter can provide the clarity the party and the country so desperately need.

It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must leave the government.

Yours ever

Tom Watson MP
West Bromwich East
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BLAIR'S RESPONSE

Dear Tom

Thank you for your letter.

I am sorry it has come to this.

You did a good job as a minister and I thank you for it.

I know you have worked hard for the Labour Party throughout your life.

I also accept entirely that you are entitled to your view about the best way for the Labour Party to renew in office.

But as you will know from the long years of Opposition we have endured, Labour only came to power after putting behind it the divisive behaviour of the past and uniting around a modern vision for both country and party.

The way to renew and win again now is not to engage in a divisive - and since I have already made it clear I will be leaving before the election - totally unnecessary attempt to unseat the party leader, less than 15 months after our historic third term victory; but through setting out the policy agenda for the future combined with a stable and orderly transition that leaves ample time for the next leader to bed in.

We are three years from the next election.

We have a strong policy platform.

There is no fundamental ideological divide in the Labour Party for the first time in 100 years of history.

For the first time ever, we have the prospect not just of two but three successive full terms.

To put all this at risk in this way is simply not a sensible, mature or intelligent way of conducting ourselves if we want to remain a governing party.

So I am sorry we are in disagreement.

Yours ever

Tony
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KHALID MAHMOOD'S RESIGNATION

Dear Tony

It is with great regret that I am writing to you to offer my resignation from my position as parliamentary private secretary to Tony McNulty MP at the Home Office.

Our Labour government has achieved a huge amount for this country, investing in and reforming our public services and lifting millions of our most vulnerable citizens out of poverty. Your leadership since 1994 has been inspirational.

The party and the nation owe you a tremendous debt.

It is imperative that we continue this work for the good of our party and our country.

This has always been my primary concern.

It was what drew me into Labour politics as a very young man, and what has underpinned the unswerving loyalty I have always demonstrated to you personally and the party as a whole.

The party and the Labour government's work is more important than any individual.

Sadly, I feel that your remaining in office no longer serves the best interests of the party or the country.

Given which views, it is with the greatest regret that I must leave the government.

Yours sincerely

Khalid Mahmood MP
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LETTER FROM FOUR PPS'

Dear Tony

We have been honoured to serve as members under your leadership since entering the Commons in 2001.

The process of renewal and reinvigoration that your premiership has inspired is without precedent. In each of our constituencies remarkable achievements have resulted directly from the policies of Labour governments since 1997.

All of us rightly regard ourselves as loyal to the Labour Party and yourself over many years. We believe however that you have not ended the uncertainty over when you intend to leave office, which is damaging the government and the party.

The letter signed by other parliamentary colleagues organised by Karen Buck fails to address this issue and we are unable to put our names to it.

We have vitally important Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and English Local Authority elections next year and we must resolve this matter well in advance of these.

It is with great sadness that we feel under the circumstances we have no alternative but to resign as parliamentary private secretaries.

Yours ever

Wayne David MP, Caerphilly; Ian Lucas MP, Wrexham; Mark Tami MP, Alyn & Deeside; David Wright MP, Telford