England's riots shouldn't be blamed on 'moral decline', says Tony Blair

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Source: The Guardian

Tony Blair has launched a fierce attack on widespread claims that this summer's riots showed that British society is in "moral decline". The former prime minister warns that rash talk of a broken society threatens to harm the country's reputation abroad.

While admitting that he was guilty of a similar reaction to the murder of two- year-old Jamie Bulger in 1993, he calls for the government not to play politics with the crisis and mounts an impassioned defence of Labour's legacy after 13 years in power.

Writing in the Observer, in his first public verdict on the riots, Blair says: "In 1993, following the Bulger case, I made a case in very similar terms to the one being heard today about moral breakdown in Britain. I now believe that speech was good politics but bad policy. Focus on the specific problem and we can begin on a proper solution.

"Elevate this into a highfalutin wail about a Britain that has lost its way morally and we will depress ourselves unnecessarily, trash our own reputation abroad, and worst of all, miss the chance to deal with the problem in the only way that will work."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/20/englands-riots-tony-blair

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Blair's article: ""