Blair ‘up there with Churchill’

FORMER British prime minister Tony Blair will go down in history in the same bracket as Winston Churchill, his wife Cherie has claimed.

While comparing her husband to the revered Second World War prime minister, the outspoken barrister admits her own image suffered during her time at 10 Downing Street. “I’m sure history will judge him very well. I think he’ll be up there with Churchill,” she told the November issue of Vanity Fair, describing Blair’s decade in office from 1997 as “fantastic”.

But of her own media profile, she said: “Just looking at the press cuttings, you couldn’t say that it was a triumph, could you?”

Asked what her mistakes were, she replied: “The list is potentially endless. But in the end, it is pretty trivial. You try and do your best, but you’re only human.”

Blair said she backed her husband’s decision in taking Britain into the war in Iraq. “Absolutely I did,” she said. “... I did not know all the information, but I trusted Tony to make the right decision. Do I agree with Tony on everything? No. Do I think Laura [Bush] agrees with [US President] George [W] Bush] on everything? No.

“But if you ask me do I trust Tony to make the big decisions wisely. Yes.”