Blair leaves to standing ovation.
Ironically, I only this morning stated this:And so today he takes his final bow. There is much to criticise, and regular readers here will know that I have never been slow to do so. However, there is also much to applaud. And, as Blair bows, I will do so. There was a day though - pre-Iraq - when I would have given him a standing ovation.
Well, the members of the House of Commons were much more generous than I proposed being, giving Blair a standing ovation from all sides. This is the first time I have ever been aware of such a thing happening in the Commons.
The House gave him a gentle send off with tributes flowing in from friends and foes alike, with even Iain Paisley heaping praise upon him. I paraphrase, but Blair replied something along the lines of, "I was waiting for the 'but', but it didn't come".
Conservative leader David Cameron hailed Mr Blair's "remarkable achievement" in being prime minister for 10 years, praising peace in Northern Ireland and Mr Blair's work in the developing world which he said will "endure".
He wished Mr Blair "every success for whatever he does in the future".
Mr Blair thanked Mr Cameron for his tributes and said although he could not wish the Tory leader well politically, "personally I wish both him and his family very well indeed".
He caused great laughter when he informed the House that he received his P45 on Tuesday.
And, whilst admitting that he "never pretended to be a great House of Commons man", he admitted that he had always feared the House of Commons and said that at three minutes to twelve before every Prime Ministers Questions he had always felt "a tingling sense of anticipation".
He noted, "In that fear, there is respect."
Then, ever the showman, he finished with a flourish.
And with that they stood. Every single one of them. And, sitting at a set of traffic lights in west London, myself and a friend clapped along as we waited for the lights to change."Politics is still the arena which sets the heart beating a little faster". "As well as skulduggery," it is the place of high causes, he concludes.
The outgoing prime minister's final words to parliament are: "I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that; the end."
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