Free Republic

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged his party in an emotional farewell speech to put aside squabbles over who succeeds him and focus on winning Britain's next election. Mr Blair defended the centrist policies he has followed in nine years in power but said the party had to face up to global challenges such as climate change and terrorism as he gave his last address as leader to the Labour Party's annual conference. He called for a healing of divisions that rocked the party this month when a rebellion by Labour legislators forced him to pledge to step down...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair gave budget travellers a shock when he boarded their low-cost flight back to London at the end of a week-long Italian holiday. Mr Blair and a seven-member entourage flew from Rome on Sunday on a commercial flight with no-frills carrier Ryanair, according to Rome's Ciampino airport. The prime minister has drawn unwelcome attention from British newspapers in the past for using more costly state flights for holiday trips abroad. Ryanair's press office could not immediately say how much Mr Blair paid for his ticket. The flight left the Rome airport 25 minutes late on Sunday...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair today branded growing anti-Americanism around the world as "madness" in the face of the challenges confronting global peace in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In an address to a rare joint sitting of the national Parliament, Mr Blair urged the formation of a global alliance in the struggle for democracy and justice, and said this alliance "does not end with, but it does begin with, America". "I do not always agree with the United States - sometimes they can be difficult friends to have," he said. "But the strain of frankly anti-American feeling in parts of...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair, fresh from announcing initiatives to deal with problem parents and their unruly offspring, has admitted this morning to smacking his older children. Blair's admission came on a BBC television question and answer session with members of the public about his "respect" measures, unveiled earlier in the day to tackle anti-social behaviour. The 52-year-old prime minister was put on the spot about his own parental discipline when the presenter asked: "Do you smack your kids? Did you?... Did it cause a problem?" Blair, who has four children aged five to 21, replied: "No, I think, funnily...