Deborah Orr: He failed to stand up for the people most in need

Children's playgrounds are so neglected that they mock the very notion of 'childsplay'
Published: 11 May 2007

Blair's departure, fittingly enough, leaves us with one last awesome choice. These 10 years in Britain have been intense and tumultuous, full of contrast and paradox. They have been, if the wisdom can be found to learn their lessons, quite astoundingly vivid and instructive. We have the chance now to map our future. The shape and the significance of Blair's much-touted legacy is in that sense in our own hands.

Britain's great wealth is now blindingly and obviously apparent, most of all in London, of course, which has emerged as arguably the most powerful, and actually the most expensive, city in the world. From the start Mr Blair declared himself relaxed about wealth, and nobody can deny that he has held the line on that one.

There is a glittering, volatile sense of accelerating opulence in the capital that is seductive and enervating, thrilling and unsettling. The strain of euphoria in the capital sits on the edge of hysteria, and feels dangerous enough to be addictive. But the signs of comfort and plenty are by no means concentrated there. All round England, there are manicured country towns, with stylish shops, clued-up delis, smart private dentists and smart private schools, servicing rural lives of casual, relaxed, informal luxury. No matter what complaints abound as to the dreadful cost of upper-middle-class living, the numbers of people who seem able to afford such lives are steadily growing. continue...