Three assesssments of Blair's European legacy in today's press

The FT has a leader which refers to "Blair's eleventh hour championing of EU". It cliams that "The attempt to win over domestic opinion, to argue the pragmatic case (let alone with passionate conviction) why it serves British citizens to pool a small part of their sovereignty to meet the cross-border challenges of the era of globalisation, was all but abandoned. That is dereliction of political duty - and inexplicable. Britons have never been more familiarised and at ease with their European neighbours and many policy arguments inside the EU have tilted Britain's way. If Mr Blair had given half the time he devoted to Iraq to Europe, the position might be different. His belated attempt to resolve the constitutional mess might be more credible, his claim to be a champion of Europe less self-ascribed."


The Independent, also in a leader, refers to "a terrible failure to make the case for Europe". It says: "Mr Blair should not be trying to conceal what he is doing on Britain’s behalf in Europe. He should be up-front about it. If this institutional reorganisation is good for Britain, he should come out and say so unambiguously. His persistent failure to make the case for Europe has allowed popular prejudice and ignorance surrounding the EU to go unchallenged. The damage this does should not be underestimated. When it comes to the major challenges of our times such as climate change, peacekeeping and trade reform, Europe is indispensable. The unchecked growth of an anti-European mindset in Britain is diminishing our power to help to shape the world for the better."


Finally, with a different take, the Express, which claims that "Throughout his decade in Downing Street this Prime Minister has studiously avoided the verdict of the British people on the European Union. It can only be concluded that Mr Blair has failed to give the people a voice on Europe because he knows what that voice would say: no to greater integration, no to ridiculous European regulations and yes to a transfer of sovereignty away from Brussels and back to Britain. So it is disturbing to learn that in the few weeks before he quits office, Mr Blair is proposing to sign more powers away to the EU and will not give the British people a vote to either endorse or, much more likely, reject his proposals"

One would expect the Express to make such claims, but the other two are being a bit simplistic. Blair has frequently made keynote speeches on Europe (in addition to his Commons speeches at least four times a year after each European Council). Those Cardiff, Warsaw, and Brussels spring to mind, but there have been more), but they are simply not reported on very much in the press, nor, unfortunately, taken up much by others. Many of our newspapers give ample space to shrill Eurosceptic and xenophobic comments, but are reluctant to give space to the less exciting explanations of why the European Union is so vital.