Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

In an emotional 17-minute speech, he said the judgment on his 10-year administration was "for you, the people, to make". Mr Blair paid special tribute to his wife and children "who never let me forget my failings".

But he concluded: "Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong - that's your call. But I did what I thought was right for our country.
"This country is a blessed country. The British are special. The world knows it, we know it, this is the greatest country on earth."

He dealt directly with Iraq, many people's perception as his ultimate legacy, saying: "The blowback since ... has been fierce, unrelenting and costly."

The Independent's cartoonist Dave Brown says "don't let the door hit you on the way out":

won't be sad to see the back of Blair. I detest the man and what he's done. But he's great to draw. You put all that bile, hatred and angst into drawing. Blair's legacy is Iraq. It could have almost been Northern Ireland but Iraq just overshadows everything.

From the right leaning Times of London:

Tony Blair proudly claimed to have changed the face of modern Britain today as he returned to the place where his political career first began to make the formal announcement of his resignation as Labour leader.

In an emotional speech to supporters in his Sedgefield constituency, Mr Blair declared that in his ten years in power, Britain had been transformed from a "strangely old-fashioned country" into one which is "comfortable in the 21st century, at home in its own skin".

He added: "Britain not a follower today. It is a leader." He also defended his record over a decade at No 10, saying: "Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right."

I spoke with my mother-in-law, who lives in London, about a week ago about Blair, and she concluded that while most Britons remain angry with Blair over Iraq, he is also given great credit for his economic and other domestic programs. And he saved the Queen's legacy by urging her to emote at long last over the death of Princess Di (see the movie "The Queen" -- you'll love it.)

So there it is.