Blair - point of departure

Fraser Nelson's article today in the Spectator expresses my POV pretty well.

Blair's book tells how the world is changing, and governments are losing control of it. He paints a picture of a new global elite, and it's easy to see that he regards himself as a potential master of this new universe. Bill Clinton has this status, of Global Leader For Hire, and even found himself resolving real disputes - taking hostages back from North Korea last year. 

Blair is transcending both party (there's nothing left-wing about his memoir) and even country (he's less and less British every time he makes a guest appearance here). Like Clinton, he has discovered that a smile and a contacts book can be worth a lot of money.

Blair Inc isn't about making a rich man even richer. It's about pioneering a new form of statesmanship - for leaders who are no longer shackled to their electorates. Blair is going global. "I now travel to China frequently" he says - and you can bet it's not for the lemon chicken. Not for nothing does the Blair Faith Foundation have offices in East and West. 

This book is about promoting a global brand: that of Blair himself. So we should not waste too much time scouring it for his thoughts about the country he has left behind.

Indeed. But that's what everyone is doing. See, in particular, the bleat by Polly Toynbee in this compendium of Guardianista comments. The truth is not merely galling for the Labour party, it is humiliating for those who once thought Blair walked on water - and a harsh reminder to all who live in this country how small it looks to those with a global perspective.

I suspect that lesson may prove to Blair's most lasting legacy to the land of his birth. Maggie Thatcher challenged the British people to be what she believed they could be. Blair did not, either because he did not believe they were capable of rising to the challenge, or because he simply couldn't be bothered.