The Paxman Interviews: Tony Blair
2019 ж. 24 Қар.
67 850 Рет қаралды
Jeremy Paxman interviews the Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair.
From 20 April 2005.
Jeremy Paxman interviews the Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair.
From 20 April 2005.
The calibre and capability of Politicians was so much better then. These Paxman interviews shows that.
Whatever you may think about Blair: he has a quick mind.
Without a doubt the most intelligent prominent politician in the past 20 years, as far as I can see.
@@dreamer2260 "the most intelligent" is void of meaning for lack of a clear IQ measuring stick. His quick mind does not obliterate the fact that he is and remains a war criminal (taken in tow by W.H. Bush) responsible for many thousands of innocent deaths in an unprovoked war based on a lie.
@@hdholl9696 I don’t really see that he’s a criminal. Hussein’s regime was criminal. I do believe Blair’s defence that he took the decision on an honest belief there was a high likelihood of Hussein having WMDs, and furthermore, he believed it was important to both remove Hussein’s regime for humanitarian reasons, and because he for whatever reason felt it was important to be loyal to the US. The worst reason was his desire to go with America, because in that decision I detect irrationality, hubris and a decision-making process not necessarily fully based on what was truly in the best interests, and wishes of the British people. So he does appear to have had a bit of a messiah complex/excessive sycophancy/love for the US. I still believe he’s more intelligent and perceptive than other recent prominent politicians.
@@dreamer2260 ... And he is dishonest. He did promise to Gordon Brown to step down so the chancellor could be the PM, and he blatantly denies this here. He reminds every Tour de France lover of the way, in times immemorial, Bernard Hinault promised to ride for Greg Lemond (the better rider) yet competed with him even till the finish on top of the Alpe D'Huez in 1986.
@@dreamer2260 Hell awaits!
To have a politician like that around now... wipes floor with todays lot
Blonde mongrel would just stutter with a smirk on his face and make a historical or philosophical quote ,or cite A phrase in Latin .
Blair was always excellent (and far better than any modern day politician) at handling tough interviews. I thought that he breezed through this, while Michael Howard on the other hand came unstuck. In 2019 he was interviewed by Andrew Neil (of course in a completely different league to Paxman and utterly forensic), and I thought he handled that ‘grilling’ very well, again far better any modern day politician would be able to. After his controversial decisions regarding Iraq (which I thought was a catastrophic mistake and protested against) and university top-up fees (which more so than Iraq nearly brought him down) in 2003-2004, didn’t he actively put himself in front of hostile audiences to explain his decisions? That is in contrast to Johnson and his cronies who do their level best to avoid tough interviews / facing scrutiny etc.
Yes, there was a deliberate strategy in 2003 for Blair to do TV debates about Iraq (and other topics) in front of hostile/sceptical audiences. Alistair Campbell called it the "masochism strategy". The opponents remained hostile but supporters saw him making the right arguments and the undecided at least got the message that Blair was prepared to argue his case.
Agree it's called being knowledgeable with confidence in your decisions
So.....He bent the truth to take the country to an illegal war which killed hundreds of thousands, leading to destabilisation of the middle east and power vacuum that followed (Isis). But that's ok because he's polished in interviews and was willing to have the debate in front of hostile audiences. Meanwhile Boris and co are terrible because they had a birthday cake and maybe had an office gathering.
It’s worse now ,selfish , psychopathic cowards that don’t stand for anything other than their own pockets & bank accounts bursting
The best prime minister in the last 50 years, but even if you don’t agree with that, at least he had some balls unlike all the weak politicians around now.
I agree!
Love these uploads, window into another time.
A more moderate time before:Brexit, Scottish indy and the financial crisis
@@markbenjamin1703 Interesting that this more moderate era is what causes the nonstop drama of the 2010s.
He was a good interviewee. Today, a lot of leaders in similar situations try to talk out the interview.
Today politicians don't even try to answer the questions they are asked. Blair never dodges the questions however difficult they are.
You mean Biden refuses to answer questions
Paxman is a supercilious git. His steamroller interviewing style plays well in SW1, but its counter-productive for getting at the truth.
Can't believe Paxo dropped that condoms question on Blair... so cheeky!
True democracy
Yes but did you threaten to overrule him
I did not overrule derick lewis
Being a young adult at this time, Blair was great. There was hope and a real feeling of he had the best intentions for every part of the country.
Currently studying history, and Blair/new Labour are a part of it. Just wondering if you could elaborate on your views towards Blair? Do you think if he hadnt gone to Iraq he would be remembered as one of the best post war PM's?
@@clefton3112 I think he's right up there. Won 3 elections in a row, some of them by an extremely comfortable margin. Introduced the minimum wage and devolution, ran a surplus in some years and growth was very high - the UK economy grew by a lot in this time, nearing that of Germany by the time of Gordon Brown and the Great Recession - and there was a large amount of public spending on education and health under Blair. Iraq was such a massive shame, though I fear Blair and the UK get more blame than they deserve in this respect, as the United States did 95% of the heavy lifting and were the ones who wanted the invasion and supplied the UK with the false intelligence about WMDs (they knew for Britain to get involved it would be a credible casus belli). You could argue almost any UK prime minister would have supported the US invasion of Iraq at that time. Context is very important. The world was changing. 9/11 changed everything, and Blair thought genuinely that the best decision was to stand in solidarity with the United States and lend legitimacy to US foreign policy in the region. By standing with the US it stopped the US being the only UN Security Council member to want to remove Sadam, as the French don't always share American interests and neither of course do Russia and China. Iraq was a mistake which we know with hindsight, but there had been previous military interventions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone that had been a success and it wasn't exactly certain that Iraq wouldn't be either. However I and my family were against the Iraq War, and it has since given Britain the unfortunate label of being an American lapdog, despite not following America into Vietnam and other disasters, or being opposed to many American policies (like Trump's withdrawal from the Paris and Iran deals, or Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan).
Blair was impactful and did far better then the tories before him in bringing this country forward BUT the iraq war, he did mislead parliament. He kept saying he doesnt regret but truth is it is extremely regretful. There were many tory and Labour heavyweights who were against the war so those who say, any other PM wouldve joined may be lying
@@tk_maj2972 I completely agree with you.
@@clefton3112 I think if he hadn't gone to war he would've probably still been PM during the recession. Would've still lost support in my opinion but not as much as the iraq war. Probably would've gained another majority. He could lead and him and brown had the vigor and cunningness that nor Ed milaband nor starmer have
jesus, im no fan of blair but he makes our current leaders look like school children
Great interview. Tough Paxo but a great responder to his questions from Tony Blair.
What’s interesting is this wasn’t even Blair at his best - he had a slipped disc and was in a lot of pain and yet still better by any of todays politicians by a country mile.
Hi Anthony, I have just read your comment. I hope you are right. We Germans had Mr. Kohl for a long time as prime minister. He couldn´t talk in any sophisticated way as you would expect from a politician. But he was a good politician and he managed German unification. I am very fond of the UK. I lived in London for eleven years. All the best to you and your country.
God he was brilliant
He was a murdering b#stard.
war criminal
A persuasive liar,
When was the last time a PM did a 30 minute interview defending their record?
amazing how we complained about him but now look at the government we have
You mean, look at the Labour party we have.
@@Aerojet01 both to be honest. labour may be hopeless but the government are an embarrassment to Blair's administration
A masterclass in how to put Pacman back in his box
At 8:16 we see the point where Paxman really did get under Blair's skin. Here, Blair really lost his composure and went on the defensive at Paxman here.
Do you have the other two interviews with Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy? Would love to see those
machooman 99 - Yeah the Michael Howard one was hilarious! I can’t find it anywhere!
@@dommidavros2211 Sadly I didn't record it, but if you look to C-SPAN you may find what you're looking for at www.c-span.org/video/?186356-1/british-election-special
David Boothroyd - Thanks 👍🏻
@@dommidavros2211 I thought Howard fought hard in that campaign - Blair was damaged to a degree, and near the end of his reign, and the Tory campaign based on immigration was ahead of its time. Sadly none of them anticipated that the economy was f**ked.
Did you threaten to overrule him
23:05 It is odd that free movement within the EU was never raised as an immigration problem (it wasn't at this point I think). It is ironic that he says we'll have a points based system to solve (non-EU) immigration, which is the current solution to EU immigration (which he wouldn't support). One just has to accept that EU membership means free movement in the EU, and countries like UK may have periods when there are a lot of EU workers coming in....
Paxman, legendary interviewer 👍
@Mr. Foothold Explain
I don't agree at all.
Good probing questions, insightful answers.
I would of respected him more back in 2002 if he had just said that we had to show the World and the Middle East in particular how powerful we are when angered. Instead of lying.
7:26 looool the reaction
@11:00 what a liar. It's since been established he told Bush "I will be with you, whatever"
I was born in 2002 so about a few years into his time as prime minister but there is a picture of me I was 1 in 2003 watching tv and Blair was on tv lmfao I looked so confused
And I was about 5 I think when he left office lmfao
Blair was always at his best when his back was against the wall! He came across well here and given the information he was given, it’s totally justified that he made those decisions about Iraq! What was the alternative, just let Saddam Hussain continue breaking every international law in the book and then laugh in our faces?! The guy was a psychopath, my regret would have been not get rid of him the first time!
They never got rid of Saddam because he was being lined up for the future. They let him get worse and worse, then they had the perfect excuse. Blair is a bills hitter.
Theresa Pierce - Well he should have been dealt with in the early 90’s and Blair would never have had to finish the job and he wouldn’t be so hated (which he doesn’t deserve!).
Blair handled Paxman HANDSOMELY and better than anyway else I've seen embroiled with him.
That’s rubbish, Blair begged Bush to allow us a part in the war in Iraq, the Americans told him they didn’t need the help of the U.K. to win that war. Eventually they relented and gave Blair the bit part of Basra where we did little else but sit in camps outside of it.
@@zipz8423 how do you know?
Watch this and compare to Sunak and the difference is so clear
Paxman excellent
CORRECT.
Can you believe we have gone from this to Boris. Listen to the difference in how they speak. You can hear who is honest and who is not. It's just a lack of intelligence from the public. The Tories have to go!
I don't know if it's just me, but Paxman is absolutely insufferable in this interview.
It's not just you. Paxman has a nerve attacking Blair over Iraq intelligence, since Paxman wrote in a book published in 2002 that "It may be regarded as almost certain that Iraq has continued to develop CBW" (Chemical and Biological Weapons).
@@DBIVUK well isn’t the personal views and opinions of the interviewer irrelevant in an interview? Paxman relayed the general opinion of the country who felt they were misled about the Iraq War
@@jamiengo2343 In some cases it might - but Paxman did put his own personal opinions in interview questions sometimes, and certainly seemed to react to answers suggesting his own feelings.
@@DBIVUK sometimes we can mistake an interviewer’s personal opinion for simply the antagonistic position they take to draw a better answer from an interviewee. His reaction alright fair, but I do trust Paxman’s professionalism
Paxman interrogation style of interview is appalling.
Why on Earth did we get rid of this guy? Far better than any prime minister since
Not really was a war criminal should have been prosecuted 😮
because he is the worse Prime Minister this country has ever had
Hi Zelyone, Idon´t know who or what you are. But a prerequisite of communication is that you use language that everyone can understand. Try again , may be it wasn´t all nonsense.
I don't know why but I actually feel sorry for Tony blair, its sad, the war in iraq was terrible he shouldn't have got involved, but I feel sorry for this man, I don't know but it's sad, he's got old and gaunt looking, grey hair, he just shouldn't have got involved in iraq
He looks a lot better at, now, 69, than I do at 63! I would think being the Prime Minister for that long would put a few years on you.
You gotta love Jeremy Paxman "Priminster is there anything you would like to apologise for" 😄 I know Blair had his faults but puts today's government to shame as he has has conviction in his responses where as Teresa or Boris would just run away crying. He was almost the Male version of Thatcher, even her faults another PM who didn't cower from the media. Blair was the last of that political era where they had a backbone. Today PMs don't have confidence in what they are saying hence they are always stuttering their words.
But Blair was/is a liar - and a good one. No one who came after him has been as good as that. History will just Blair.
Not many people can argue on equal terms with Paxman like this.
We need paxman back
Will be blaming others on Judgement Day too.
Imagine BOJO!
One of the best prime ministers the UK ever had. Who is Boris Johnson, a jerk.
fool
B liar was elected, Bojo wasn't!!! both are Charlie Uniform November TangoS!!
Tony blair is a war criminal and boris johnson is a baffoon
No prime minister has been good
the worse PM of all time and an utter liar. If you want a 'jerk' look no further than Starmer
If anyone wonders why Blair has received no honours. Here’s why
Because the Royal Family are Brexit supporting Conservatives?
@@jameskeller4239 Right.
He's a knight now ;)
Sadam was going to reject the dollar and trade in gold
Paxman was terrible here! When Tony Blair outwitted him, he showed no acknowledgment at all and just moved onto the next question! He’s a truly terrible interviewer and Blair handled him really well!
It's not a 'contest of wits', it's questions &answers to inform the viewer. Paxman's questions on Iraq reflect the key ones from the time, and Blair denied them, and then stopped answering them and says 'we had a tough decision, based on some rumours, and we went with it'. It was difficult, but he is defending the indefencible really, albeit with charm and persuasion. I think history is recording that for all the benefits of what happened, a British PM should have found a way of disengaging from the US Iraq crisis, not going in as Blair did.
Ha! Challenging independent nuclear deterrent. 12:20 A countries defense should consider not only what you know but what is possible. In todays world in 2023, asking such a question seems ridiculous.
Attorney general
Thumbnail image shows a maturing man...
Long live Blair the best prime minister we have ever had !
His actions cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. I’d hate to hear who you consider to be our worst PM
Blair society was better
Get a brain
Keir Stammer boring by comparison
you have a warped and twisted sense of humour
Will he ever be charged for war crimes?
The continuity guy at the start tells you all you need to know, substitute "dream house" for "drippy yuppie" and there's the summation right there.
is sarin a WMD?
Weapons of mass destruction
Fun to talk about how good the economy is.. Just 2 or 3 years before the crash 😂
caused by a global financial crisis you moron.
@@jimmyhopkins3589 the only morons are the ones that let it happen. And yourself of course.
@@kevinfacts5200 you clearly have no understanding of what actually happened you stupid piece of shit
@@jimmyhopkins3589 but still streets ahead of you.
To know the truth about anything, look only at the opposite of what Blair said
Great pm well done
No he wasn’t
He’s like a serial killer without the style
@@arkanstigers6007 yes he was
28:06
Tony blair why did you not legalise assisted dying in the uk when you was in office Labour is spending a lot of years out of office now
11:37
The Great Sir Tony Blair the Greatest living British Statesman.
The great war criminal! Should have been prosecuted put on trial 🙄 living in delusion what has he done enriched himself now so called middle east peacemaker
Go and have a lie down.
@@thomasreed49 😃
very funny
0:13
Tim curry
20:12
Come back Tony.. The sh1t is hitting the fan again!
The remarks about Afghanistan at 11:28 have aged like milk!
I never did like paxman...he is one of the BBC's 'holier than thou' interviewers... Can't abide him, him and Tim Sebastian, can't abide either of them... Very hostile, destructive interviewing, more like interrogations.
If he asks questions like today interviews the politician will just ramble what they want and not answer questions
19:54 19:58
In reality.... War in iraq shouldn't have ever happened. Yes sadaam was a dictator but so are other 85% of countries around the world, no one bat's an eye lid regarding Saudi, Kazakhstan and so on as they're deemed allies to the west. but have you seen the state of the country (Iraq) now. Ran by shias and kurds who are doing exactly if not worse to sadaam? Mixed in with isis? Tony blair does have his positives and ran the UK well, but in all honesty going along with America was his fatal mistake.
Blair playn Napoleon
Long live the Saudi kingdom
Read the "end of the party" by Andrew ransley. It's all you need to know about Blair's deception.
What was his motivation, goal and reward for deceiving anyone and risking his premiership,I ask the same question of everyone who has accepted the BLIAR narrative as truth.
Paxman is ruthless!
This should be a training video for wannabe liars
Blair isn’t a liar
Aww poor baby Blair. He sounds like he’s been accused of something he hasn’t done or something!! He’s full of it, and, and has ruined Iraqi lives and IS ACTUALLY HOPING WE WILL FEEL SORRY FOR HIM!!! Only a MP with no conscience could ever think like that!
20:16 What is it with this B liar pratt and ID's!! 🤔
Mature 🙄
Blair not Bliar
Jp has TB quivering and yelping
Our generation of Tory leaders are so thick they make this guy look like Socrates. And he was the worst prime minister we had!!!
Tony Blair was the worst thing to happen to the UK since WW2.
Paxman probably should have also asked why the war in Iraq went so disastrously that nearly a million innocent Iraqi civilians were killed, if the target and the grief was indeed against Saddam Hussein, the forces etc should not have been bombing and shooting at civilians like that, should they? Or maybe Blair directly ordered their killings to somehow, you know, maximize the damages of war and blame it on Iraqi government and their forces whilst earn money profits from the war?
I don't think the British or even American military would have targeted civilians at all I would think that in the invasion casualties would have been light However in fighting the insurgency later on the fighting was in built-up areas and amongst the population, and therefore civilian casualties were inevitable (by the Iraqis themselves, not just US/UK)
@@laxeystu8096 But were there no carpet bombings and aerial bombings in Iraq from either or both US and UK forces that reigned indiscriminately on Iraq and therefore also killed civilians?
@@alexanderdahoola8188 Unless you know otherwise, modern militaries like the US/UK don't do 'carpet bombing'. You can quibble about accuracy if you want, but these days they use precision weapons which minimise unnecessary additional damage/death. Clearly a few civilians might have been caught in buildings that were attacked, but the bombing should never be 'indiscriminate' in this day and age. Arguably the British military don't have enough bombs to use them in that way. In the 'surge', Fallujah etc some terrible civilian casualties did occur, because of the intensity of the fighting. I don't think modern soldiers are ever content with civilians dying.
most competent leader Britain has had in the past 25 years......not even close
the worse PM of all time and an utter liar
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Omg this guys Britain was more mesmerising than clown Boris Johnsons
So many lies
Terrible animation
When blair dies everyone is going to be celebrating his death, its sad but that's the truth, nobody should be remembered that way when they die, people should just leave this man alone and stop harassing him in interviews, leave the man alone, he might not show regret on the outside, but the inside I know he's hurting, he has to be
I won't be celebrating his death and I hope it's many years away. I have a lot of respect for Blair.
" extensive, detailed and authoritative" in his own words blair lies then lies some more to cover up the lies
Blair: I can't say I am sorry we removed Saddam. So he is not sorry for Iraq because the Iraqis and soldiers including human lives for your war in Iraq all died which created even more instability and terrorism, This man should be put to court.
He has profusely apologised on other occasions for the loss of life amongst military and civilians. Personally I think British involvement in Iraq was mishandled from the start. The reason for joining in was tenuous and politically risky, but to take on a country and its militants with a small-ish force you end up killing of loads of people, and still not 'succeeding'
@wildebest Blair is the reason why Iraq is unstable and millions of people flee because of terror. He should've never gone to Iraq and caused so much casualties. Not childish just facts. You can support him but numbers do not lie and what is happening today in Iraq doesn't as well.
@wildebest that was what I meant. The British force was too small to stabilise that region and it's militants.
@wildebest Enlighten me.
@wildebest I base my comment on the fact that the British invasion force was 40k, but this was quickly reduced to 13k for the occupation of the Basra region. This level is lower than the equivalent force deployed in NI, and as the history in Basra showed they had to agree terms with the Shia militias.
Blair was always an expert liar and a skilled purveyor of cant and sophistry. The facts remain however - he took the UK to war in Iraq on lies and unleashed a terrible legacy.