Tony Blair

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  • ConDem Conservative and Liberal-Democrat Conservative coalition government protects Tony Blair by refusing to release pre-Iraq war cabinet minutes
  • The corporate press promotes Tony Blair

Tony Blair’s Iraq meetings to remain secret after government veto

The government has vetoed an order by the independent freedom of information watchdog to release the minutes of cabinet meetings held immediately before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The decision was announced on Tuesday by Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, the only minister to have access to papers of a previous administration, in this case Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Grieve said he issued a certificate under the Freedom of Information Act vetoing disclosure after consulting former Labour ministers, his cabinet colleagues, and the leader of the opposition, Ed Miliband.

He described the case as “exceptional” and one where, in his view, the public interest demanded the papers should be kept secret. He says he took into account “serious potential prejudice to the maintenance of effective cabinet government”.

The attorney said he also considered the fact that “the issue discussed was exceptionally serious, being a decision to commit British service personnel to an armed conflict situation”, that the issue “remains the focus of both domestic and international interest”, and that “Iraq remains very much a live political issue in its own right” with links to the “overall security situation in the Middle East and the perceived link between the terror threat to the UK and military action in Iraq”.

Grieve noted that most of those present at the cabinet meetings in March 2003 were still MPs or “otherwise active in public life”.

Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, had argued that the “exceptional gravity and controversy” of the matters discussed meant that minutes of the cabinet meetings on 13 and 17 March 2003, days before the invasion, should be disclosed.

One of the reasons Grieve gave for vetoing disclosure was that the Chilcot inquiry meant the invasion of Iraq was still a “live” issue. Yet the panel chaired by Sir John Chilcot is being prevented by Whitehall mandarins from disclosing key documents relating to the decision to invade Iraq.

The March 2003 cabinet minutes are believed to be among them. The continuing dispute between Chilcot and Whitehall officials over disclosure is a main reason why his report has been delayed.

In a separate move last week, the Foreign Office appealed against a judge’s ruling that extracts of a conversation between Blair and George Bush days before the invasion of Iraq must be disclosed. It argued that revealing Blair’s comments to Bush on the telephone on 12 March 2003 would present a “significant danger” to UK-US relations.

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Tony Blair and Ed Miliband

 

The Return Of The King – Tony Blair And The Magically Disappearing Blood

By David Cromwell

How many war crimes does a western leader have to commit before he is deemed persona non grata by the corporate media and the establishment? Apparently there is no limit, if we are to judge by the prevailing reaction to Tony Blair’s return to the political stage.

On July 11, it was announced that Blair would be ‘contributing ideas and experience’ to Labour leader Ed Miliband’s policy review. He will apparently provide advice on how to ‘maximise’ the economic and sporting legacies of the 2012 London Olympics.

The Guardian described the announcement mildly as a ‘controversial move’; not necessarily in the country at large, the paper claimed, but ‘perhaps especially within the Labour party’. One Guardian headline declared ‘Return of the king’.

The ‘left-wing’ John Harris did his bit in the Guardian to smooth Blair’s path:

‘He’s only 59, the picture of perma-tanned vitality and keen to “make a difference”. Could a fourth stint in No 10 even be on the cards? We shouldn’t rule it out.’

Harris declared ‘that for all his mistakes, transgressions and howling misjudgments, there remains something magnetic about his talents.’

Blairs and Milibands
Blairs and Milibands

When Blair appeared at a Labour fundraising dinner at Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, Harris noted that:

‘He was greeted by the obligatory crowd of protesters, still furious about his role in the Iraq war.’

That’s the curious thing about peace protesters; endlessly ‘furious’ about the country being dragged into an illegal war that led to the deaths of around one million people, created four million Iraqi refugees, devastated Iraq’s infrastructure, generated untold suffering and burned obscenely huge sums of public money in times of ‘austerity’. Perhaps we Brits should simply display that famed stiff upper lip and move on. Certainly that’s what Richard Beeston, foreign editor of The Times, suggested in 2009:

‘All this happened six years ago. Get over it.’ (‘The war went wrong. Not the build-up. Stop obsessing about the legality of invading Iraq. The campaign itself was the real disaster’, The Times, February 26, 2009.)

A recent Times editorial welcomed Blair’s return:

‘Labour is coming together, drawing on its best available talent and starting to get serious again. (Editorial, ‘A year in politics’, The Times, July 14, 2012)

The second coming of Blair was launched by a friendly chat on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. Marr, of course, is well-known as a totally impartial political analyst and a ‘congenial and knowlegable [sic] interviewer’ (to quote a cable from the US embassy in London to Hillary Clinton).

The PR onslaught continued when London’s Evening Standard published an interview with the former PM on the day he ‘guest-edited’ the paper. Would he like to be prime minister again one day? ‘Sure’, he replied. A supportive Financial Times interview with editor Lionel Barber proclaimed:

‘Five years after leaving power, Tony Blair wants back in. He is ready for a big new role. But what exactly is driving him? And can he persuade the world to listen?’

Unnamed ‘friends’ and ‘allies’ were quoted, no doubt passing on the Blair-approved message:

‘Friends say he is desperate to play a bigger role, not because he has any ambition to run for high office but because he wants to be part of the argument. “He would really like to be the centre of attention again,” says one long-time ally.’

A Guardian editorial did its bit to help:

‘he seems to have mellowed a touch since his book [‘A Journey’, published in 2011]; maybe he’s even learnt a little respect for international law.’ (‘Unthinkable? Tony Blair for PM again.’)

The paper continued:

‘Besides, this is no time to fret about the policy details – there is the showbiz to consider. In 2007 John Major likened Mr Blair’s long goodbye to Nellie Melba; the coming comeback must demonstrate he is more like Sinatra and Elvis. There can only be one true heir to Tony Blair, and that is Tony Blair II.’

Could the vanguard of British liberal journalism really be making an editorial call for the return of Blair? It shouldn’t be a total surprise. Recall that even in the wake of the supreme international crime of invading Iraq, the Guardian still called for its readership to re-elect Blair at the 2005 general election.

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    • UK in worst recession since 1955
    • Nick Clegg sent white powder and called a “devil worshipper” by a nun
    • Insane Tony Blair calls himself insane

 

Never had it so bad: UK recession is the worst since Fifties

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GDP figures yesterday showed the economy shrank for the third quarter in a row – down 0.7 per cent between April and June – meaning the UK is in its worst recession since 1955.

  • But as Conservative Chancellor George Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron insisted yesterday there was no need for a change from their austerity policy, Mr Cable demanded what he termed a “Plan A-plus” to help boost growth in the UK.Business leaders also called for a rethink, criticising the government’s lack of growth policies….

 

Nick Clegg Abusive Letters Calling Lib Dem Leader ‘Devil-Worshipper’

 

Sister Ruth Augustus pictured in 2004
Sister Ruth Augustus pictured in 2004

A nun has been found guilty of sending threatening letters containing white powder to parliamentary figures including Nick Clegg, whom she accused of being a “devil-worshipping Freemason”.

Sister Ruth Augustus, 71, was found guilty on six counts of hoaxes involving noxious substances before Harrow Crown Court on Wednesday after the jury took only two-and-a-half hours to deliver a verdict.

Augustus, of Leyton, east London, was found to have sent the letters to Clegg and three others, each with allegations scrawled on the envelopes.

On a letter sent to the Lib Dem leader, the nun wrote the phrases “devil worshipping”, “freemason”, “sex with 30 plus women” and “your poor Catholic wife and children”.
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Justifying why she sent the letters to the Lib Dem leader, Augustus said he had “lied about all the tuition fees and everything else, keeping those Tory millionaires and rats in government”.

“He boasted about all the women he’s had sex with. He’s an atheist singing hymns in the Albert Hall.”

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Commons committee slams Blair on FoI

Tony Blair: nutter
Tony Blair: nutter

The Commons Justice Select Committee has criticised former Prime Minister Tony Blair for failing to cooperate with its investigation into impact of Freedom of Information (FoI).

“We deplore Mr Blair’s failure to cooperate with a committee of the House,: Sir Alan Beth, the Chair of the Justice Select Committee said. “Former prime minister Tony Blair described himself as a ‘nincompoop‘ for his role in the legislation, saying that it was ‘antithetical to sensible government’. Yet when we sought to question Mr Blair on his change of opinion he refused to defend his views before us and submitted answers to our written questions only after our report was agreed, and after a press report had appeared, suggesting we might criticise his failure to give evidence.”

Mr. Blair was in office when the FoI law was brought in but since then the former Prime Minister has said it was one of the worst legislation his government brought in.  However, the Justice Select Committee in its report concluded that FoI has been a “significant enhancement of democracy” and not hindering better governance.

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  • Tony Blair a liability to the Labour Party
  • Ed Miliband calls Nick Clegg a Tory accomplice – also true of Tony Blair
  • Since we’re discussing Tory Blair, he was involved in this mass deception and contempt for democracy

Tony Blair’s return as prime minister would not get Britain’s backing

He has been reported as saying that experience could make him a better prime minister the next time around, but the voters beg to differ with Tony Blair. According to a Guardian/ICM poll, if Blair were to return as leader, a prospect he acknowledges is “not likely to happen“, the party’s standing would sink by three points, from the 39% vote share under Ed Miliband, down to just 36%.

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Labour coalition government with Lib Dems would be difficult with Nick Clegg as leader – Ed Miliband

ED Milliband has revealed striking a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats, after the next general election, would be “difficult” if Nick Clegg is still leader.

Mr Clegg has admitted that he would be “open” to a partnership with Labour in the event of a hung parliament.

• Ed Miliband has said that a coalition deal with Lib Dems would be “difficult” with Nick Clegg as leader

• Miliband calls Lib Dem leader a Tory “accomplice”

But Mr Miliband poured cold water on the idea by suggesting Mr Clegg was an an “accomplice” of the Conservatives.

“Clegg’s biggest problem is that he will say he is a brake on the Tories, but he is an accomplice,” he said.

“He chose not to kill the Health and Social Care Bill – a really bad bill doing damage to the NHS – and to pursue House of Lords reform.”

Asked if he could work with the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Miliband replied: “I would find it difficult to work with him.”

 

Penta-lawn 2000

On September 11, 2001, a bunch of mean nasty Arab terrorists — who hated our freedoms — hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 fully loaded with fuel, and crashed it through the first floor of the west side wall of the Pentagon.

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  • South London NHS Trust is declared ‘bankrupt’ and placed in ‘receivership’. A private company may take over.
  • Insanity returns to the Labour Party. Insane, deluded, divorced-from-reality, barking mad and woofing former Prime Minister and War Criminal Tony Blair to advise Miliband on Sports Policy. At least he’s got a fairly harmless nothing position but doesn’t Miliband and the wider Labour Party realise what damage Blair & Co have done, the extent to which he is hated by so many, that he’s a Tory who pursued Tory policies? He was so hated that he left the country for 5 years FFS.
  • London couple forced to treat their son privately.
  • NHS campaigner offered job as NHS-wrecker.

    South London Healthcare NHS Trust put into administration

    South London Healthcare NHS Trust is to be put into administration after it ran into financial trouble, the government has announced.

    Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has appointed a trust special administrator to go into the trust.

    …

    As well as struggling financially, the trust also has some of the longest waiting times for operations and longer-than-average waits in A&E. However, it has low infection and death rates.

    If a decision was made to break up the trust, it would not necessarily mean the closure of all services.

    Another more successful NHS organisation or private provider could end up taking some on.

    …

     

Tony Blair returns to politics as Labour sports adviser

Former prime minister Tony Blair has undertaken his first job in British politics since leaving office, as an adviser to the Labour party on its sports policy review.

The anti-war movement won’t let Tony Blair forget about Iraq

Pay £2,000 to remove painful lump on son’s hand, NHS hospital tells couple

A couple have had to borrow £2,000 to pay for an operation to remove a painful gobstopper-sized lump on their child’s hand after NHS officials refused to pay for “cosmetic” surgery.

Bailey Payne, three, from Dagenham struggles to hold a pen because of  the lump, which has formed from a build-up of muscle tissue near the base of his thumb. His mother Maxine, 24, took him to her GP, who said the lump should be removed and referred him to Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

Doctors agreed to carry out the operation but weeks later Ms Payne and her partner Steven Jones, a lorry driver, received a letter saying the NHS would not cover the costs of the surgery. The couple lost an appeal.

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Going private? What happened when a private health company offered an NHS campaigner a job

This week, Alex Nunns, campaigner with Keep Our NHS Public, was headhunted for a job at private health firm Care UK. His proposal? A new coporate motto: ‘Providing less, for more’.

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I believe a key talent for any disrespecting Media Relations Executive is the ability to turn a negative in to something offensive. For example, it must have been a stressful time in the Media Revelations office when that tax avoidance story broke a few months ago – the one saying that Care UK had reduced its tax bill by taking out loans through the Channel Islands stock exchange. All this talk of tax havens and tax avoidance isn’t good in the current climate. But as your Media Relationship Executive I would have used a little reverse psychology, instead of denying it as your spokesman did. After all, this could put you right up there with the big boys like Goldman Sachs, Vodafone and Jimmy Carr.

Similarly, you got some bad press when it was revealed that the wife of your former chairman John Nash gave £21,000 to Andrew Lansley’s office before the last election, when Lansley was shadow health secretary. But let’s view it from another angle – doesn’t this serve to highlight Care UK’s excellent political connections? And look how it turned out: Lansley is in power and he has passed the Health Act. He has opened the door wide to privatisation, and Care UK is already inside redecorating the place.  We thought Lansley wasn’t going to manage it for a while, when all those thousands of patients and doctors started protesting and June Hautot shouted “codswallop” at him in the street. But he pulled through, sacrificed his future public career for private gain, and God bless him for that. Care UK now stands to make a fortune. This is something to boast about, for Bevan’s sake! And all for £21,000, less than it would cost to employ a Media Relations Executive for a year. (Please confirm.)

You should play to your strengths. Care UK is a true pioneer in this privatisation drive. You were the first private company to run a GP surgery in Dagenham back in 2006. And the first to face enforcement action from the Healthcare Commission because of slack hygiene procedures at the Sussex Orthopaedic Treatment Centre in 2008. And who’s to say you weren’t the first to forget to process 6,000 x-rays at your ‘urgent’ care centre in North-West London in 2012? As a Mediocre Relations Executive, I would advise not mentioning those last two.

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