In 1997, the NHS budget was 33.5 billion and in 2010 it was 115 billion. The population of England increased by 5 million over that period. Tom Bauer: Why are you using cash figures? Nobody in this room would ever use cash figures. John Merton: I'm sorry to push you, but time is always against us. Let's move on to that minor subject of war. Shall we go?
Tony Blair is the man who reinvented Labour, won a landslide majority in 1997 and went on to win three elections, becoming Labour’s longest-serving prime minister. He is also the man accused of lies, hubris, money-making deals and taking us into an illegal war.
This episode features a live event which Intelligence Squared hosted in London in March 2016, when we put Tony Blair on trial and examined his legacy on foreign policy, health, education and much more.
Levelling charges against him was Tom Bower, investigative journalist and author of Broken Vows: Tony Blair and the Tragedy of Power. Defending him was the journalist and Times columnist David Aaronovitch.
This event was originally produced by Hannah Kaye. This series was produced by Farah Jassat and Catharine Hughes, with editing and artwork from Catharine Hughes. Music is by Lesfm.
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