Farewell Prime Minister Blair

"I have been very lucky and very blessed. This country is a blessed nation. The British are special, the world knows it, in our innermost thoughts, we know it. This is the greatest nation on Earth. It has been an honour to serve it." - Tony Blair.

He was a special politician, very special. How many could utter these words after 10 years in power without sounding trite or cheesy?

Back in 1997, I was a young student studying in London when Labour swept into power with this youngish looking prime minister - very good looking, very fresh, but not many back then knew what a Labour government, or indeed the prime minister, would be like. In the past decade, I have spent six years in the UK - three of which were when Blair first came to power, and three of which were in his last term. I witnessed first hand how the British society was transformed during his time in office. The prime minister, if nothing else, has been a great political performer.

Britain, under Mr Blair, continued on its economic revival first started under the Tories. Many scholars today agree that Britain has Margaret Thatcher's reforms to thank for. While Mr Blair harped on social justice, he had mostly maintained Tory-like economic policies. Taxes went up a little to fund public services, but generous tax shelters were offered. There were 5 billionaires with he first came to power, there are 68 today (converted to USD, it will be even more) - many are foreigners attracted by the generous tax regime.

Britain continued its hands-off attitude when foreigners bought their companies - such as making loud noises when MG Rover had to close down, but mostly adhering to free market principles. BAE wanted to quit Airbus, thereby threatening the jobs located in Britain, no problem. Spain taking over its airports, go ahead. The truest test of a country being global is when foreigners are allowed to buy national icons, and when foreigners are allowed to compete for jobs. It is a test Britain passed with flying colours, further entrenching capital, talent and industry on its shores.

"Look at our economy - at ease with globalisation, London the world's financial centre. Visit our great cities and compare them with 10 years ago. No country attracts overseas investment like we do."

But this was not why Blair was so good. Tories would have arguably continued on economic management with a globalised outlook. Thatcherism however left the society divided, suspicious of the fruits of economic growth, and pissed off with itself. Mr Blair accomplished something Mrs Thatcher never managed - he reached into the hearts and minds of the British people and made them comfortable with economic progress, and above all, with themselves.

How did Mr Blair manage what the Tories couldn't? Primarily by mixing economic hard-headedness with persistent rhetoric for social compassion. I use the word "rhetoric" because even his own supporters would agree that he under-delivered on many of his promises on social justice. Nevertheless, by constantly espousing high ideals - whether it was the Commission for Africa, climate change, intervention in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, and later tragically in Iraq - he injected into the nation a sense of moral purpose that Mrs Thatcher never did, simply by appealing to the better instincts of people. Thatcherism is the steel and spine of Britain, but Blairism is its heart and soul.

Take for example Africa. By constantly reminding the world of its obligation to the wretched continent, he reminded the British people of social justice in its widest sense - it is not enough that you care for your fellow country men, you have to care for your fellow men. His words, mere words, were enough to help Britain, despite its problems, see past itself. Without these high ideals, the British society would have been more fractured by the income, race, religious and political divides.

"This is a country today that, for all its faults, for all the myriad of unresolved problems and fresh challenges, is comfortable in the 21st Century, at home in its own skin, able not just to be proud of its past but confident of its future."

Of course, high hopes often lead to disappointment. Even his own supporters were disappointed that he achieved less than what he promised, and Mr Blair himself admitted as much. It showed the measure of the man (and the cunning of a great politician) when he asked the British people to forgive him for the missed expectations.

"I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short."

Mr Blair's critics are many. But here, I suggest they miss an important point. His politics gave the British people a sense of hope and mission, measured from which they might be disappointed, but without which their national life would surely have been poorer. And I, a bystander, was lucky to have watched this great political performer in action.