Tony Blair: Quotes about people (page 2)

“She was the people's princess and that is how she will stay, how she will remain in our hearts and our memories for ever.”

Tony Blair

Frank Millar, "Shocked Britain mourns loss of Princess Diana in Paris car crash", Irish Times, 1 September 1997, p. 1.
Statement on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 31 August 1997.
1990s

People , Memory , Heart , Princess

“A New Britain where the extraordinary talent of the British people is liberated from the forces of conservatism that so long have held them back, to create a model 21st century nation, based not on privilege, class or background, but on the equal worth of all.”

Tony Blair

Tony Blair's speech in full http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/460009.stm, BBC News online
Speech to the Labour Party conference, 28 September 1999.
1990s

People

“We've already discovered, just so far, the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves.”

Tony Blair

Peter Beaumont, " PM admits graves claim 'untrue' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1263830,00.html", The Observer, 18 July, 2004.
Statement reported in "Iraq's Legacy of Terror: Mass Graves" produced by USAID, dated 20 November, 2003.
2000s

People

“In this day and age if you've got the technology then it's vital to use that technology to track people down. The number on the database should be the maximum number you can get.”

Tony Blair

BBC News online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6075930.stm
Remarks while touring the Forensic Science Service, concerning the police DNA database, 23 October 2006.
2000s

People , Age

“If we don't act now, we can't keep those people down there forever. We can't wait forever. If we don't act now, then we will go back to what has happened before and then of course the whole thing begins again and he carries on developing these weapons and these are dangerous weapons, particularly if they fall into the hands of terrorists who we know want to use these weapons if they can get them.”

Tony Blair

Prime Minister's website http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page3250.asp
Appearing in "MTV Forum - Is War the Answer?", recorded on 6 March 2003, transmitted on 11 March 2003.
2000s

People , Waiting

“There have been the most terrible, shocking events taking place in the United States of America within the last hour or so, including two hijacked planes being flown deliberately into the World Trade Center. I am afraid we can only imagine the terror and the carnage there and the many, many innocent people who will have lost their lives. I know that you would want to join with me in sending the deepest condolences to President Bush and to the American people on behalf of the British people at these terrible events.This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life and we, the democracies of this world, are going to have to come together to fight it together and eradicate this evil completely from our world.”

Tony Blair

Trades Union Congress http://www.tuc.org.uk/congress/tuc-3709-f0.cfm
Speech to the Trades Union Congress. 11 September 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks of that day had begun.
2000s

Life , People , World , Democracy

“Look, I'm a person, an individual with a character and part of my character is about what I believe in and part of my beliefs obviously is a religious conviction. I simply hesitate whenever I get drawn into this territory because I have found, over time, that it either leads to people misunderstanding the basis upon which you are taking decisions or it leads to people trying to colonise God or religion for one particular political position. I make no claims to that at all.”

Tony Blair

BBC Newsnight http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/1988874.stm
Interview with Jeremy Paxman, 16 May 2002.
2000s

God , People , Religion , Decision

“I am a Socialist not through reading a textbook that has caught my intellectual fancy, nor through unthinking tradition, but because I believe that, at its best, Socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral. It stands for co-operation, not confrontation; for fellowship, not fear. It stands for equality, not because it wants people to be the same but because only through equality in our economic circumstances can our individuality develop properly.”

Tony Blair

Hansard, House of Commons, 6th Series, vol. 45, col. 316.
Maiden speech as MP for Sedgefield, 6 July 1983.
1980s

People , Fear , Reading