Celebrities Tony Blair, Birthday: 6 May 1953, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, UK

I don't believe that anyone wants a two-tier Europe. There will be areas no doubt in which people mo...Show more »

I don't believe that anyone wants a two-tier Europe. There will be areas no doubt in which people move ahead in enhanced co-operation and that is already provided for by what was agreed at Nice. Defence is an area, for example, in which we would want to be part of any movement forward. There would be other areas where perhaps we would not be. We can treat that on a case-by-case basis" - on the idea of a '2 speed' Europe Show less «

"This is a battle with only one outcome: our victory, not theirs." (About the war on terror)

On WMD, Apr 2003: "I am absolutely convinced and confident about the case on WMD - critics will be e...Show more »

On WMD, Apr 2003: "I am absolutely convinced and confident about the case on WMD - critics will be eating some of their words." Show less «

You have your difficult times and you have your better times and the decisions you take are often ve...Show more »

You have your difficult times and you have your better times and the decisions you take are often very, very hard to take, but actually it's a privilege to take them. And the reason for that is, just occasionally, you meet people - and I do in different parts of the country - whose lives we have changed. Show less «

The justice for me is concentrated on lifting incomes of those that don't have a decent income. It's...Show more »

The justice for me is concentrated on lifting incomes of those that don't have a decent income. It's not a burning ambition for me to make sure that David Beckham earns less money. Show less «

I am a passionate pro-European. I always have been.

I don't believe that if you are acting in a competitive market, that it's the job of government to c...Show more »

I don't believe that if you are acting in a competitive market, that it's the job of government to come along and tell a company - you are making too much profit. Show less «

The fundamentals of the US, British and European economies are strong.

It was just completely new, a different sound. They're two remarkable people - very talented, very o...Show more »

It was just completely new, a different sound. They're two remarkable people - very talented, very original. (On Eurythmics) Show less «

A middle-aged mother looks you in the eye and tells you that her only son has died and asks you why,...Show more »

A middle-aged mother looks you in the eye and tells you that her only son has died and asks you why, and I tell you you do not feel like the most powerful man in the country at times like that. Because there is no answer, there is no justification. Show less «

People are entitled to think that homosexuality is wrong, but they are not entitled to use the crimi...Show more »

People are entitled to think that homosexuality is wrong, but they are not entitled to use the criminal law to force that view upon others. A society that has learned, over time, racial and sexual equality can surely come to terms with equality of sexuality. Show less «

[to Nigel Farage] Let me just tell you, Sir: You sit with our Country's flag, you do not represent o...Show more »

[to Nigel Farage] Let me just tell you, Sir: You sit with our Country's flag, you do not represent our Country's interests. Show less «

This is my covenant with the British people. Judge me upon it. The buck stops here. For the future, ...Show more »

This is my covenant with the British people. Judge me upon it. The buck stops here. For the future, not the past, for the many, not the few, for trust, not betrayal, for the age of achievement, not the age of decline - that is my covenant with the British people. Show less «

The only difference between compassionate Conservatism and Conservatism is that under compassionate ...Show more »

The only difference between compassionate Conservatism and Conservatism is that under compassionate Conservatism they tell you they're not going to help you but they're really sorry about it. Show less «

Every so often, I feel I should graduate to classical music, properly. But the truth is, I'm more li...Show more »

Every so often, I feel I should graduate to classical music, properly. But the truth is, I'm more likely to listen to rock music. Show less «

Education is the best economic policy there is.

[to Labour supporters whose hearts are on the left] When people say 'my heart says I should be with ...Show more »

[to Labour supporters whose hearts are on the left] When people say 'my heart says I should be with that politics', well get a transplant. Show less «

On Iraq, July 2003: "If we are wrong to have gone to war, we will still have destroyed a threat that...Show more »

On Iraq, July 2003: "If we are wrong to have gone to war, we will still have destroyed a threat that is responsible for inhuman carnage." Show less «

I have never pretended to be a great House of Commons man but I can pay the House the greatest compl...Show more »

I have never pretended to be a great House of Commons man but I can pay the House the greatest compliment I can by saying that from first to last I never stopped fearing it and that tingling apprehension that I felt at three minutes to twelve today I felt as much 10 years ago and every bit as acute. It is in that fear that the respect is contained. Show less «

I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable than me to talk about U2's music - all I'll say is th...Show more »

I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable than me to talk about U2's music - all I'll say is that, along with millions of others right across the world, I'm a huge fan. Show less «

A day like today is not a day for sound bites really. We can leave those at home. But I feel the han...Show more »

A day like today is not a day for sound bites really. We can leave those at home. But I feel the hand of history on our shoulder. Show less «

On finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq: "In a land mass twice the size of the UK it may well...Show more »

On finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq: "In a land mass twice the size of the UK it may well not be surprising you don't find where this stuff is hidden." Show less «

When Europe and America stand together the world is a better and more prosperous place.

On Iraq Sept 2002: "What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Sa...Show more »

On Iraq Sept 2002: "What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons." Show less «

After the 1979 election the Labour Party persuaded itself of something absolutely extraordinary. Jim...Show more »

After the 1979 election the Labour Party persuaded itself of something absolutely extraordinary. Jim Callaghan (James Callaghan) had been prime minister and the Labour Party was put out of power by Margaret Thatcher and the Labour Party persuaded itself that the reason why the country had voted for Margaret Thatcher was because they wanted a really left-wing Labour Party. This is what I call the theory that the electorate is stupid, that somehow they haven't noticed that Margaret Thatcher was somewhat to the right of Jim Callaghan. Show less «

I can only go one way. I've not got a reverse gear.

On WMD, Dec 2003: "I don't think it's surprising that we will have to look for WMD. But that Saddam ...Show more »

On WMD, Dec 2003: "I don't think it's surprising that we will have to look for WMD. But that Saddam had them is beyond doubt." Show less «

I can assure you I have no intention of hiding away from this at all. On the contrary, I am enthusia...Show more »

I can assure you I have no intention of hiding away from this at all. On the contrary, I am enthusiastic about being able to debate these issues on the basis of an objective independent judgement by a judge, rather than the speculation. - on the Hutton Inquiry Show less «

Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.

What we have governing our country is a degenerate party that loves lecturing people about right and...Show more »

What we have governing our country is a degenerate party that loves lecturing people about right and wrong but has long since ceased to know the difference between right and wrong. - said in 1996 about the Conservative government Show less «

If there were chemical or biological or nuclear battlefield weapons in Iraq, that most certainly wou...Show more »

If there were chemical or biological or nuclear battlefield weapons in Iraq, that most certainly would be a weapon of mass destruction and the idea that their use would not threaten the region's stability I find somewhat eccentric. Show less «

My project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson.

I wouldn't want to win on an old fashioned leftist platform. Even if I thought it was the route to v...Show more »

I wouldn't want to win on an old fashioned leftist platform. Even if I thought it was the route to victory, I wouldn't take it. Show less «

I am not saying that everything has been good, because it hasn't. And incidentally, for those of you...Show more »

I am not saying that everything has been good, because it hasn't. And incidentally, for those of you who think that you will ever get a government where everything is fine, that doesn't happen. What does happen is progress, if we have the courage and the determination. Show less «

Power without principle is barren, but principle without power is futile.

That we have yet to find WMD is something I have to accept and it is one of the reasons I think we n...Show more »

That we have yet to find WMD is something I have to accept and it is one of the reasons I think we now need a new inquiry. It is true David Kaye is saying we have not found large stockpiles of actual weapons. Show less «

Some may belittle politics but we know, who are engaged in it, that it is where people stand tall an...Show more »

Some may belittle politics but we know, who are engaged in it, that it is where people stand tall and although I know it has its many harsh contentions it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster, and if it is on occasions the place of low skulduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes. Show less «

[on Margaret Thatcher] Some of the things she did I disagreed with her, over Europe for example. But...Show more »

[on Margaret Thatcher] Some of the things she did I disagreed with her, over Europe for example. But in other things, like how British industry became more competitive, in privatizing the state industries, in putting trade unions within a proper legal framework, those things are with us still today and I think they wouldn't be there today if they hadn't in the end achieved a certain stability and consensus in British politics. Show less «

"We do not want a personal and abusive campaign. Let's talk about what we can do for the country." (...Show more »

"We do not want a personal and abusive campaign. Let's talk about what we can do for the country." (On the 1997 General Election) Show less «

I grew up with Harold Wilson as prime minister and he was woven into my life as a youngster. He was ...Show more »

I grew up with Harold Wilson as prime minister and he was woven into my life as a youngster. He was there at the top of politics for many years and I think of him as the first modern prime minister. He was the first prime minister that people thought they might wander up to him in the street and say, 'Hello, Harold'. He also brought in a whole new culture, a whole new country. He made the country very, very different. When I was younger I remember seeing The Beatles in Downing Street and how very incredible that was. In that culture of the Sixties, it was a revolution and a change in the way people thought and worked and lived and he will always go down for me as one of the most significant political figures of the 20th century. My dad was, I'm sorry to say, a Tory, but even he had a lot of respect for Harold Wilson. Show less «

The strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set agai...Show more »

The strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even contemplated without them. Show less «

[on David Bowie in 1996] It's been a great year for British music. A year of creativity, vitality, e...Show more »

[on David Bowie in 1996] It's been a great year for British music. A year of creativity, vitality, energy, British bands storming the charts, British music back once again in its rightful place at the top of the world. And at least part of the reason for that has been the inspiration that today's bands can draw from those that have gone before, bands in my generation like The Beatles, The Stones [The Rolling Stones] and The Kinks, or the later generation, The Clash, The Smiths, The Stone Roses. But there is one man who spans the generations, who has been a source of inspiration to practically everybody. He's always at the cutting edge, he's an innovator, he's pushed the frontiers back, he's a man not afraid to go up the hill backwards. He's recorded with Bing Crosby and Queen and the Pet Shop Boys. He is now in his fourth decade of great music. Show less «

You look underneath that UKIP facade and you see something pretty nasty and unpleasant.

On WMD, Nov 1998: "Before the Gulf war, Iraq had built up a vast arsenal of WMD. It has been trying ...Show more »

On WMD, Nov 1998: "Before the Gulf war, Iraq had built up a vast arsenal of WMD. It has been trying to hide them, and to acquire more, ever since." Show less «

I simply say to people that this threat of the interaction of unstable, chaotic states with WMD and ...Show more »

I simply say to people that this threat of the interaction of unstable, chaotic states with WMD and terrorism is the security threat of the 21st century. And, if we were not prepared to deal with it in relation to Iraq with all the history of UN resolutions, with the history of actually using weapons of mass destruction, we would never be making the progress we are today with Iran, North Korea, Libya and with the other countries where we are able to deal with this issue. Show less «

The product of an unchecked and unbalanced mind who came to confuse the notion of knowing your own m...Show more »

The product of an unchecked and unbalanced mind who came to confuse the notion of knowing your own mind with refusing to listen to anyone else. - on Margaret Thatcher's leadership style Show less «

In retrospect, the millennium marked a moment in time, but it was the events of 11th September, that...Show more »

In retrospect, the millennium marked a moment in time, but it was the events of 11th September, that marked a turning point in history. It was a tragedy, an act of evil. From this nation goes our deepest sympathy and prayers for the victims and our profound solidarity with the American people. We were with you at the first - we will stay with you to the last. Show less «

You can spend ages trying to stop the highest paid earners earning the money but in an international...Show more »

You can spend ages trying to stop the highest paid earners earning the money but in an international market like today, you probably would drive them abroad. What does that matter? Surely the important thing is to level up those people that don't have opportunity in our society. Show less «

(2001) It is time we moved beyond Thatcherism today. That's the problem the Conservatives have. They...Show more »

(2001) It is time we moved beyond Thatcherism today. That's the problem the Conservatives have. They are still stuck in the past trying to get back to where they were with Mrs Thatcher, while the rest of the country wants to move forward. Show less «

"In the end, the country has got to look at me and decide whether the person they believed in is the...Show more »

"In the end, the country has got to look at me and decide whether the person they believed in is the same person they've got now." (said in 1997) Show less «

I do show the fatigue when it's there, but this is a job where a thousand people are kicking your ba...Show more »

I do show the fatigue when it's there, but this is a job where a thousand people are kicking your backside morning, noon and night, so it's not surprising really. Show less «

Tony Blair

Tony Blair's FILMOGRAPHY

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