Blair Bids Farewell

He was once dubbed a political genius. Britain's expectations of him during the early days were extremely high. But now as Tony Blair runs the clock out on his political career on June 27th, many believe he leaves with a stained political identity.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on Thursday that he's stepping down as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader on June 27th. [Photo: Chinadaily]

Mr. Blair confirmed his departure plans as Labour's leader in a national address made in Sedgefield constituency, the birthplace of his 24-year political career, which peaked ten years ago when he became the youngest British Prime Minister since 1812. So what happened in between then and now to lead to mixed public feelings about his departure? And how will his successor shape the future of Britain?

Ni hao, you're listening to People In the Know, China's only English-language political current affairs program, online at www.crienglish.com here on China Radio International. In this edition of our show, we'll be taking about Tony Blair's departure as Labour leader, and – as such – as the Prime Minister of Great Britain. We'll get both an inside and outside perspective on the ins and outs of British politics and diplomacy during the past decade with Blair as its Prime Minister. So let's get started.

Last night, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he's stepping down as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader on June 27th. So what is his legacy? For an insider's view of what Mr. Blair is all about, we're pleased to be joined by Professor Julian Le Grand with the London School of Economics and a former advisor to Mr. Blair.

(Dialogue with Le Grand)

And after we take a short break, we'll tap a Chinese expert for her opinion on Blair's departure.

Ni hao, you're listening to People In the Know, online at www.crienglish.com here on China Radio International. I'm Paul James in Beijing. In this edition of the show, we're talking about British Prime Minister Tony Blair's departure as the Prime Minister as of June 27th. For more on this and Britain's future, we're now joined by Dr. Li Weiwei with the China Institute for International Studies.

(Dialogue with Li)