The Spectator

The showman leaves the stage

Dogs bark, cats miaow, Blair gives superb speeches. His latest farewell remarks were no exception, and there were a few misty eyes here in 22 Old Queen Street. Not mine, I’m afraid to say. Fat lot of good his speeches have done of us over the years. But here’s what I made of his remarks.
 
This was his long-awaited “sorry”. Specifically “I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded – and my apologies to you for the times where I have fallen short”. Of course, he did qualify this earlier: “I may have been wrong. That’s your call. But believe one thing, if nothing else – I did what I thought was right.” So even when he was wrong, he was kinda right. But he needs to say sorry to be forgiven, which I sense he desperately wants to be.
 
But his speech was riddled with tricks.



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