Blair: My foreign policy was right
Tony Blair today promised to dedicate his last few months as prime minister to work for a Middle East peace deal, as he sought to justify his foreign policy to his party.
Many Labour members were alienated by the Iraq war and the decision to stand shoulder to shoulder with US president George Bush in the war on terror, and today Mr Blair used his last conference speech as leader to argue his case one more time.
He attacked those who suggested the government’s actions abroad had increased the terrorist threat, saying Labour must “shake ourselves free of the wretched capitulation in the propaganda of the enemy, that somehow we are the ones responsible”.
“This terrorism isn’t our fault. We didn’t cause it. It’s not the consequence of foreign policy, it’s an attack on our way of life,” Mr Blair declared.
He insisted the war on terror was “not our war against Islam – this is a war fought by extremists who pervert the true faith of Islam”, and he argued British military action in Iraq and Afghanistan was vital in the fight against these extremists.
“If we retreat now, hand Iraq over to al-Qaida and the sectarian death squads and Afghanistan back to the al-Qaida and the Taliban, we won’t be safer,” he said.
“We will be committing a craven act of surrender that will put our future security in the deepest peril.”
However, he acknowledged that if Britain wanted its values to have any credibility, “we have to show that they are fair, just and delivered with an even hand” – which meant reaching a settlement in the Middle East.
“From now until I leave office, I will dedicate myself, with the same commitment I have given to Northern Ireland, to advancing peace between Israel and Palestine,” he said.
In this, he also addressed another major controversy of his premiership – his relationship with President Bush. Mr Blair warned that although it was “hard sometimes to be America’s strongest ally”, nothing could be done without US support.
“The truth is nothing we strive for, from the world trade talks to global warming, to terrorism and Palestine, can be solved without America, or without Europe,” he said.
“At the moment I know people only see the price of these alliances. Give them up and the cost in terms of power, weight and influence for Britain would be infinitely greater. Distance this country and it’s a long way back.”
He attacked David Cameron’s Conservatives for both pandering to anti-Americanism and stepping back from European integration. “Sacrificing British influence for party expediency is not a policy worthy of a prime minister,” he said.
On counter-terrorism at home, Mr Blair also reiterated his support for ID cards, saying they were an “essential part of responding to the reality of modern migration and protecting us against identity fraud”.
“I don’t want to live in a police state, or a Big Brother society, or put any of our essential freedoms in jeopardy. But because our idea of liberty is not keeping pace with change in reality, those freedoms are in jeopardy,” he argued.
Many of the reforms he had introduced were controversial, Mr Blair admitted, but he issued a warning to his successor to stand firm. “The British people will, sometimes, forgive a wrong decision. They won’t forgive not deciding,” he said.
