To our partners, Linda, Margaret and Laura.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
INTRODUCTION
Chapter One
A HANDS-OFF ENVOY: BLAIR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Chapter Two
THE BLAIR RICH PROJECT
Chapter Three
EUROPE: BLAIR’S FAILED AMBITIONS
Chapter Four
ADVISER TO OIL-RICH SHEIKHS
Chapter Five
APOLOGIST FOR DICTATORS: CENTRAL ASIA PROVIDES FERTILE PICKINGS
Chapter Six
BURMA’S MILITARY GOVERNMENT CALL IN BLAIR
Chapter Seven
EMBRACING GADDAFI
Chapter Eight
BLAIR AND MANDELSON: THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
Chapter Nine
SELLING INFLUENCE TO THE ARAB WORLD
Chapter Ten
THE TRANSATLANTIC CONNECTION
Chapter Eleven
AFRICA: MORE COMMERCE THAN CAUSE
Chapter Twelve
DOING GOD
Chapter Thirteen
FAMILY FORTUNES
Chapter Fourteen
THE PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
Chapter Fifteen
A ROUTE BACK TO BRITISH POLITICS
Chapter Sixteen
A GOLD-PLATED PRISON
INDEX
Plates
Copyright
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to several excellent freelance journalists who did some specific pieces of research, without which the book would be much poorer. They are Jeff Apter, Paris stringer for magazines throughout the English-speaking world; Lynne Wallis, freelance for national papers; and three talented young journalists, Natalie Illsley, Chris Pitchers, and Naomi Westland.
We were also given access to the excellent research done by Sasha Joelle Achilli for the Dispatches programme about Blair, and we thank her for it.
A number of journalists have passed us ideas or tips, or helped us with their knowledge and contacts, and we thank them all. We are immensely grateful to Sam Greenhill of the Daily Mail and his colleagues Simon Walters, Guy Adams and Alex Brummer. We would also like to thank the researcher Richard Cookson. For information on the Middle East, we thank especially Harriet Sherwood (Guardian), Don Macintyre (Independent) and freelance journalists Jonathan Cook, Kieran Kaufman, Lawrence Joffe and Lidia Kurasinska. We would finally like to thank Chris Mitchell at John Blake Publishing for the care and thought which has gone into editing this book.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Tim Allan
Former adviser to Tony Blair between 1992 and 1998, went on to found Portland Communications. Allan and his PR company are part of the caravan of consultants that supported Blair in advising jurisdictions such as Kazakhstan.
Sir Mark Allen
Former British spy (head of MI6 Middle East Bureau), once close to Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Allen facilitated Blair’s trips to Libya during the Gaddafi regime. Blair cleared him to join the board of the oil major BP immediately after quitting the civil service.
Dr Hanan Ashrawi
Palestinian political leader and outstanding advocate who has been a severe critic of Blair’s role in the Quartet. A Palestinian legislator, activist and scholar.
Nick Banner
Former Foreign Office official who became Blair’s chief of staff in the office of the Quartet Representative; facilitated Blair trips to Libya.
Cherie Blair QC
Blair’s wife and mother of his four children: Euan (born 1984); Nicholas (born 1985); Kathryn (born 1988); and Leo (born 2000). Blair – a barrister – founded Omnia Strategy, a law firm that provides consultancy to governments on legal issues. Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and owner (with Euan) of twenty-four flats.
Tony Blair
Born 6 May 1953, Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007. Consultant and philanthropist from 2007 to present. Said to be worth £90 million.
Lauren Booth
Cherie Blair’s half-sister, and outspoken critic of Blair’s role in the Middle East.
Martin Bright
Former political editor at New Statesman and political editor for the Jewish Chronicle, hired by Blair to edit the ‘Faith and Globalisation’ website of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Left after five months saying that he lacked independence.
Stephen Byers
Byers, a former Labour Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, quit the Commons after being caught on television describing himself as a ‘cab for hire’. He is unwilling to discuss clients, which includes Consolidated Contractors International.
Charles Clarke
Former Education Secretary and Home Secretary under Blair; old friend of Blair and long-standing Labour MP. Runs a ‘Religion and Society’ course at Lancaster University.
Tim Collins
US billionaire, founder of Ripplewood investment company, who introduced Blair to Yale Schools of Management and Divinity where he taught a course. Collins served on the board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Blair consulted Collins about his business prospects and tactics but ignored the advice. Collins accompanied Blair on a trip to Libya.
Wendi Deng Murdoch
American businesswoman, former wife of News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch (his third). Murdoch filed for divorce in 2013 after allegations, denied by Blair, that he had had an affair with her.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
Libyan dictator, killed during battle of Sirte in 2011, following which his country collapsed. Despite being discredited for his funding of Irish terrorism, he was courted by Blair, both in office and afterwards. Blair flew at least twice to Tripoli on a jet paid for by the Gaddafi regime.
Rachel Grant
Former Head of Communications at Tony Blair Associates, now at the management consultant McKinseys.
President Paul Kagame
Rwandan head of state whom Blair advises. Kagame’s party has been accused of genocide. In the 2010 general election Kagame received 92 per cent of the vote. Blair wrote a panegyric of praise for Kagame and his regime at the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide.
Michael Klein
US banker, formerly with Citigroup, and strategic adviser to both parties in Xstrata’s merger with Glencore. Blair himself persuaded Qatar Holdings to vote their shares in favour of the deal. Blair introduced Klein to President Condé of Guinea with a view to the government of Guinea hiring him.
Denis MacShane
Europe Minister in Blair’s government who supported Blair’s candidacy for Presidency of the European Union. Subsequently fell foul of the parliamentary expenses law and received a prison sentence.
Peter Mandelson
Mandelson founded consultancy firm Global Counsel which has consultancy interests directed towards Russia and the Eastern bloc. Former Labour Party communications chief, then Minister under Blair, as well as EU Trade Commissioner.
Shruti Mehrotra
Worked for Monitor before joining Blair. Managed humanitarian relief for international NGOs. Represented AGI in Guinea and then worked for Blair in Burma.
Ed Miliband
Leader of the Labour Party whose proposals, including the Mansion Tax, increased funding for the National Health Service, and caps on energy pricing, have been targeted by Blair and his political supporters.
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan oversees the Mubadala Developmen
t Company, the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, which is a client of Tony Blair Associates. Blair is a regular visitor to Abu Dhabi.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Hired Blair and the caravan of Blairite consultants including Jonathan Powell, Alistair Campbell and Portland Communications to burnish the image of Kazakhstan. Reputedly paid Blair £13m for two years’ consultancy.
Victor Pinchuk
Ukrainian oligarch who has donated $500,000 to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Pinchuk founded Interpipe – a maker of pipes sold to Russia. Blair has visited his factories, and described the company as ‘an outstanding creation’.
Jonathan Powell
British diplomat who served as the Downing Street chief of staff under British Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1995 to 2007. Powell, a managing director of American bank Morgan Stanley, became part of the Blair consultancy caravan, appointed senior adviser to Tony Blair Associates. Brother of Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher and Blair’s envoy to Brunei.
John Rentoul
Author of a biography of Tony Blair, Tony Blair: Prime Minister. Rentoul, (now a professor and part-time chief political commentator to the Independent on Sunday) started as a critic of Blair and is now a trusted and uncritical admirer.
Haim Saban
Israeli businessman living in the US. Reportedly the 104th richest person in America and has long supported the Israeli cause. Says ‘I’m a one issue guy and my issue is Israel.’
Baroness Elizabeth Symons
Daughter of the former head of the Inland Revenue, Liz Symons was general secretary of the First Division Association, a civil service trade union. Symons served as a Minister for State for the Middle East under Blair; she later became rich through consultancy, including to US law firm DLA-Piper.
She is linked to Consolidated Contractors Company, a massive Middle Eastern construction firm. She is married to Phil Bassett, former FT journalist and Blair adviser.
Ruth Turner
Former Downing Street official whom Blair brought into the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Turner, whose father is a Catholic theologian and a former member of Opus Dei, is a devout Roman Catholic, who facilitated Blair’s Faith Foundation deal with Yale Divinity School, in conjunction with businessman Tim Collins.
Sunny Varkey
Member of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s strategic board, wealthy Dubai-based founder of the GEMS private educational company.
John Watts
Former Downing Street official under Blair who joined lobbyists Brown Lloyd James. BLJ, of which Watts is the managing director, represents the Tony Blair Faith Foundation as well as numerous Qatari clients; it is close to the Qatari government. BLJ has been credited with securing the controversial choice of Qatar for the 2022 Football World Cup.
Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
Mandelson’s research assistant in the Labour Party who went on to become his special adviser when he was Trade and Industry Minister. On Mandelson’s resignation, he worked for a number of media companies before teaming up with Russian oligarchs. Wegg-Prosser is managing partner of Mandelson’s consultancy Global Counsel. He lives round the corner from Blair’s Connaught Square address.
James Wolfensohn
Former President of the World Bank. Preceded Blair as Representative of the Quartet for developing the Palestinian territories.
COMPANIES
Africa Governance Initiative
Blair’s pro-bono organisation with staff in London and Africa, advising governments of varying ideologies on governance.
Consolidated Contractors Corporation
Palestinian-owned construction company, linked to many Blair activities. Stephen Byers, former Trade and Industry Secretary under Blair, is chairman of British subsidiary AKWA.
DLA-Piper
US law firm with global network to whom Liz Symons was an international consultant. Blenheim Capital Partners, a defence company with which Symons is connected, also has links to DLA-Piper.
Firerush Ventures
A limited and limited liability partnership set up for Tony Blair which is also registered by the Financial Conduct Authority to be able to trade on stock markets. Also offers investment advice.
Global Counsel
Strategic management advice company, set up by Peter Mandelson and Benjamin Wegg-Prosser to handle overseas and British clients. WPP, run by Sir Martin Sorrell, also has a stake in the company. It keeps its client list secret.
JP Morgan Chase
US investment bank which employs Blair at a reputed $2 million per year on a part-time advisory basis. Blair said he expected to advise the bank on global ‘political and economic changes’.
Monitor
Set up by Michael Porter, the business guru and academic. The consultancy failed in November 2012. Many Monitor consultants joined Blair’s consultancy, Tony Blair Associates.
Tony Blair Associates
An umbrella organisation covering all Tony Blair’s commercial activities. Work includes advising governments and multinational corporations across the world.
Tony Blair Faith Foundation
Charitable organisation rooted in faith. Apparently designed to portray faith as a positive force in the world and counter extremism.
Willbury
Company set up by Peter Mandelson to handle all income from books and speeches. Mandelson is the sole shareholder.
Windrush Ventures
Commercial limited and limited liability partnership set up for Tony Blair which could be used to attract investors backing the former PM. Accounts provide very little information about its activities.
INTRODUCTION
Blair Inc.: The Man behind the Mask has not been easy to research. The secrecy that surrounds his companies and employees – forced to sign long, ferocious confidentiality agreements – indicate Blair’s unwillingness to level with the public and answer the question: Who are you, Tony Blair?
It would be hard to find another organisation with such a strong culture of secrecy. Blair’s employees, friends and political allies tended to be either outraged that we were making impertinent enquiries about matters that were no concern of ours, or terrified of what might happen to them if they were known to have spoken to us.
The outraged category was headed by the former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who wrote to one of the authors (Beckett), ‘Dear Francis, I’m afraid your mind really does work in a corkscrew way and you are simply unable to avoid insults.’
This odd sentence, which reminded us of the old schoolboy joke, ‘Stop bloody swearing’, was the opening salvo in Clarke’s alarmingly vituperative email declining to help us with this book. For, although Tony Blair is far less popular than he was, the few who still support him do so with much greater intensity than before, and become baffled and angry that people should question his activities or motives.
Yet those activities are of enormous, and legitimate, public interest. Tony Blair has deliberately stayed in public life: accepting an important and high-profile international role as Middle East envoy and unsuccessfully seeking another one, as President of the European Council; founding high-profile charities that bear his name; as well as advising governments all over the world, both publicly and privately.
We asked for help from Blair’s organisations and his friends, and made the point to them that secretiveness builds suspicion. We added, truthfully, that we were not out to write a hatchet job, but to understand how one of the century’s leading politicians, arguably one of its most successful, has conducted himself after leaving office and the nature of the influence he still wields.
Very occasionally, one encounters a public figure who is evidently affronted that any person should seek to write about them whom he has not authorised to do so, and who instructs his employees and adherents to give no assistance at all to so disrespectful a project. We have only once come across a case as extreme as Tony Blair, and that was when we sought to interview A
rthur Scargill for an earlier book.
We approached Blair’s media spokespeople, many of his senior staff, many former senior members of his staff (all of whom have signed the savagely worded confidentiality agreements already mentioned – as does everyone who works for Blair, even unpaid interns) and many of his old political allies, like Clarke.
The majority refused to talk to us or tell us anything on the record – some, like Clarke, rudely and splenetically so, some, like the former Blair head of communications Matthew Doyle, with elaborate, almost wistful courtesy. Even ordinary, harmless pieces of information, often already in the public domain, were treated as though they were state secrets.
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