The Editor

The Observer

Sir,

It is instructive to compare the retirement of Tony Blair (depicted brilliantly by Andrew Rawnsley on 16 March) with that of Sir Anthony Eden, another Prime Minister who took Britain into a mistaken war in the Middle East.

Eden disappeared from public life. He held no further office nor any profitable posts. Blair’s war was far more harmful than Eden’s but he is drenched with appointments and money. The contrast illuminates the new political culture, in which no one ever pays a penalty or accepts responsibility for error or failure. It may help to explain why public confidence in our political system has fallen to an all-time low.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Heller