Words: Tom Ward
Until recently Tony Blair was a sort of forgotten figure of British politics. After shepherding New Labour to victory in the 90s then crashing out of the top office to be replaced with a walking ham/charisma void in 2007, Blair (now 68) would only really ever pop up to offer unwelcome opinions on occasional happenings like Brexit or the Covid Pandemic. Sort of like that uncle you’ve forgotten exists until you see him posting on Facebook about how the recent reduction in gravy in the Gregg’s stake bake is further proof that the country is going down the pan.
Which brings us to Blair’s recent re-emergence as (whisper it) Sir Tony Blair. Or, Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair KG to give him his official title. Of course, following the War in Iraq, many have given Blair another title, one that goes a bit like W*r Cr*min*l. Which makes the awarding of his knighthood all the more confusing.
At the time of writing a petition urging the government to rescind his knighthood is closing in on one million signatures, making it one of the most signed petitions on change.org. Meanwhile, the Independent reports that just 3 per cent of a sample of the British public surveyed strongly feel Blair should get the knighthood. Writing in The Guardian Simon Jenkins opines “‘Sir Tony Blair’? How cheaply knighthoods come in our broken honours system”. Even the Daily Express and Daily Mail don’t seem to be on Blair’s side, running stories mentioning ISIS and Robert Mugabe.
It’s tempting to write Blair off as the man who invaded Iraq and Afghanistan beginning, in the latter case, a near 20 year war that irreparably destabilised the Middle East and the lives of millions across the region and in the West. But let’s not be hasty. Before you do, let’s take a look what else Sir Tony has been up to since leaving office in 2007 and see if anything here warrants the Queen getting her sword out.
He’s under fire over links with Kazakstan’s former president Nazarbayev
As protestors continue to die in Kazakstan, Blair has begun 2022 under fire due to his business relationship with the country’s former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev who stepped down in 2019 after thirty years of rule. According to the Daily Mail, Blair’s Tony Blair Associates (TBA) took on an advisory role with Nazarbayev in 2011. Part of the partnership included advice on PR spin which saw Blair advise Nazarbayev on how to deal with questions from Western media following the massacre of at least 14 protestors by Kazakstan security forces.
Blair wrote in a private letter to Nazarbayev that ‘These events, tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress that Kazakhstan has made.’ The letter leaked and opposition groups in the country claimed Blair had ‘blood on his hands’.
Begun in 2008, TBA was designed to “allow him to provide, in partnership with others, strategic advice on a commercial and pro bono basis, on political and economic trends and governmental reform”. The role drew criticism with detractors claiming it caused a conflict of interest with his diplomatic role as a Middle East peace envoy. The company was dissolved in 2016.
His business ventures have been varied, but lucrative
In 2014 Blair told the Daily Telegraph that he was worth less than £20 million and not interested in making money. Poor lad, scraping through life with assets worth less than £20,000,000.00 in his pocket. Since then, however, Blair’s wealth has been estimated at between £44 and £100 million. Reportedly, this comes from a lucrative property portfolio as well as work in the private sector.
Beginning in 2008 Blair joined JP Morgan Chase with a reported £500,000 salary in a role advising Zurich Financial Services on climate change. He also reportedly earned $250,000 for a 90-minute speech in 2008, making him the highest paid speaker in the world.
More recently, in October 2021 he was named in the Pandora Papers scandal with the Independent running with the headline “Pandora Papers: Tony and Cherie Blair avoided paying £312,000 in tax on London property by acquiring offshore firm”.
He published the fastest selling autobiography of all time
Considering how many members of the British public are against Blair’s knighthood we can only assume that the millions who purchased his 2010 memoir, A Journey, did so to hate-read their way through it. Media coverage of the publication was mixed, with some describing it as a flop, despite its sales. The Daily Telegraph saw it as Blair’s attempt to repair his reputation, noting he had one of the most toxic brands around from a PR perspective. They saw it as a “cynical stunt to wipe the slate”, but also a way to try to make amends. Donating his £4.6 million advance and royalties to the Royal British Legion also received a mixed reaction.
The Iraq war gave rise to ISIS, and Blair knows it
We’re not telling you anything you don’t know here; in 2015 Blair came out and said that the Iraq war had given rise to ISIS. Why terrorists do what they do and what the causes of that are is a huge and complex issue, but, destabilise a whole region, help vilify an entire religion, create an atmosphere of suspicion and hate and naturally people won’t be happy. Instead of undermining terrorists, it’s clear the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan simply created more. Now, you can’t lay the blame for this solely at Blair’s door, but as revealed in the Chilcot report, Blair was warned this could happen, but chose to go ahead anyway.
“Blair had been warned…that military action would increase the threat from Al Qaida to the UK and to UK interests,” Sir John Chilcot, said upon the publication of the report in 2016. “He had also been warned that an invasion might lead to Iraq’s weapons and capabilities being transferred into the hands of terrorists.”
His son is worth £160m
37-year-old Euan Blair – one of Sir Tony’s four children – has also made headlines recently after acquiring himself a lovely chunk of change, with headlines gleefully claiming he’s now richer than his dad. It’s all due to his Google-backed tech start-up Multiverse, which was valued at a staggering £639 million in 2021. With ownership of a quarter of the company, Blair Jar is quids in.
According to Tatler, Multiverse “seeks to provide young people with an alternative to university by matching them with apprenticeships at leading employers.” So sort of like an internship scheme then, and (sadly) nothing to do with the latest Spider Man film. Still, Tatler gushes it is a “a total revolution for higher education” (the company, not the film).
A Yale graduate and former Morgan Stanley banker, Euan of course benefitted from his Downing Street start in life, but has arguably gone on to leave his father’s legacy behind, without having to invade a nation in the process. Will he one day be in line for a knighthood? Who knows. Does Blair senior deserve his? We’ll let you decide.
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