Off the Page - Current Affairs Books, Comment & Debate

Being Fair to Tony Blair by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson, authors of Fantasy Island

Having written Fantasy Island, Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson have one more thing to add...

Books have beginnings and endings, in terms of their production as much as of the narrative they contain. Our book, Fantasy Island is gone now, printed, packed into crates, despatched here and there, unalterable.

For most people, that will sound a statement of the blindingly obvious. But for both of us, who started our national journalistic careers on a wire service, it goes against the grain. There is no chance now to put right anything that is wrong. The process has the finality of the little red Royal Mail van disappearing down the lane on the last posting day before Christmas - if it isn't in there now, it is too late.

So, as the air is thick with commentary on Mr Blair's 'legacy', is there anything we would have put it or taken out?

Featured Topic - The Legacy of Tony Blair, the future of Britain & much more

Over the next few weeks, Off the Page is going to focus on Tony Blair and his legacy, and the role Gordon Brown has played in it. We have gathered several expert writers from different backgrounds, each of whom is going to contribute ideas and commentary to the subject.

First up are Larry Elliott & Dan Atkinson whose book Fantasy Island and the related article posted below try to draw attention to mistakes they believe Blair has made beyond the Iraq issue, and how Gordon Brown has played a big part in all this. Will Britain under Brown therefore be any different?

We also have David Craig, author of Plundering the Public Sector, a book about how in attempting to modernize public services, New Labour are wasting billions of taxpayers' money on consultants and 'experts'.

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The Blair Legacy - more than Iraq?

The hot topic of the moment is Tony Blair's legacy. What will he be remembered for? What would he like to be remembered for? Everyone's talking about Iraq - will it be the soon-to-be-former Prime Minister's defining moment? Larry Elliot and Dan Atkinson argue in their book Fantasy Island that Tony Blair should not be remebmered solely for mistakes made over Iraq. Instead light should be brought to the countless other mistakes he has made, leaving behind him a seedy dreamworld mired in debt, drifting into a crisis of unemployment with a diplomatic and military role it cannot afford.

Here is an article written by Fantasy Island authors Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson:

HE was the Prime Minister with the Scottish surname and the posh English voice, a man with a touch of the actor and a reputation for slipperiness who presided over a consumer boom, committed Britain to buying American missiles and hankered after deeper British integration in Europe.

For his critics, he was someone whose reputation for creating a balmy economic climate came at a price to be paid in the years to come.

But enough of Harold Macmillan. What of Tony Blair’s legacy?