by Tom Bower
‘too many targets …’ Crisp, p. 65
No one in Downing Street … Warner, pp. 99, 157, 164, 288
CHAPTER 32
Any mention of ‘ability’ … Oxford Review of Education, April 2009, p. 271
That embarrassment was hidden … Cassen, interview with author
By 2006, 10.4 per cent of the young … Lupton and Obolenskaya, p. 9
Exhaustive research by … Cassen, Making a Difference in Education
He would resurrect … Powell, p. 181; Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 563
£50 million on a … Gillard, Axes to Grind: The First Five Years of Blair’s Academies, 2007, p. 21: www.educationengland.org.uk/articles/25academies.html (and see Gillard, Education in England)
The latter, a fifteen-year programme … Lupton and Obolenskaya, pp. 12–13
‘Won’t all this …’ eprints.lse.ac.uk/32289/1/Lewis_Sure_start_childrens_centres_2011.pdf
‘wrong … We were short on …’ Eisenstadt, p. 100
The old inequalities … ibid., p. 161
Research by academics … Guardian, 14 December 2010, 12 July 2012
‘have not yet borne fruit’ Eisenstadt, p. 157
‘Blair will stay to fight …’ The Times, 15 July 2004
Ofsted’s results, she argued … Brown, ‘The Key Role of …’, p. 26; Brown, ‘Magic Bullets or Chimeras?’ p. 23
The inspectorate’s inadequate figures … Brown, ‘Is the National Numeracy Strategy Research-Based (1999/2000)?’ n.d., p. 13
‘Deliverology’ was corrupting education. www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/FastTracktoSlowProgress.pdf
walking barefoot across … Barber, p. 203
CHAPTER 33
‘a drag on our system’ Chilcot, Walker and Boyce
British soldiers were seen sunbathing … Chilcot, Boyce
Short encouraged her officials … ibid.
‘It was a breakdown …’ ibid.
‘Bits and pieces’ Chilcot, Dearlove, second session, 30 July 2010, p. 10
Although Kevin Tebbit … Tebbit, interview with author
Under the headline … The Times, 1 May 2003
‘It is startlingly apparent …’ Chilcot, Jackson, 28 July 2010
accused of being ‘General Hypocrite’ … Sunday Times, 10 December 2006
The 5,000 battle-ready commandos … Owen, In Sickness, p. 298: Chilcot, Sawers memo, 11 May 2003
‘There’s only so much …’ Walker, interview with author
‘I didn’t think they were …’ ibid.
‘complete misunderstanding about …’ Chilcot, Walker
‘no thoughts that …’ ibid.
He cautioned that … Chilcot, Fry, p. 87
‘unlikely to be aggressive’ Chilcot, 21 January 2011, citing JIC paper, 19 February 2003
Blair’s mask did not reveal … Tebbit, interview with author
The Tories had won impressively … Powell, p. 296
After sixteen months’ proximity … Blair, p. 463
Or at least that was the argument … ITV interview with Blair, December 2009; Chilcot, Boyce
Giving Hans Blix more time … Blair, p. 427
Blair was repeating Curveball’s invention … The Times, 31 May 2003
‘It’s another attack …’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 699
Campbell for his part took comfort … Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 597, 643
‘The best way would be to get …’ ibid., p. 602
The public, Blair understood … Blair, pp. 454–5
‘open a flank on the BBC’ Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 635, 668, 683
‘a decisive meeting’ Tebbit, interview with author; The Times, 14 October 2003
‘to fuck Gilligan’ Boulton, p. 211; Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 618
‘handled’ by Tebbit … The Times, 8 January 2004
Hoon directed spokesmen … Hoon, interview with author; Smith, Hutton inquiry, 20 August 2003
‘provide as much information …’ Blair, p. 456
provoking Tory MPs … The Times, 17 July 2003
‘There was no inevitability …’ Blair, p. 479
‘The truth is that …’ ibid., pp. 380, 449, 465
‘The problem was that this …’ ibid., pp. 457–8
‘It was truly a ghastly moment’ ibid., p. 459
‘utterly transparent’ ibid.
‘rampage through the media …’ ibid., p. 589
‘lied and bullied his way …’ Newsnight, BBC TV, 11 May 2007
CHAPTER 34
Blair would not mention that … The Times, 25 February 2004
His next step was to allow … Pollard, pp. 279, 283
‘wave through’ applications … ibid., p. 279
‘There is no obvious upper limit …’ Newsnight, BBC TV, 12 November 2003
‘I made a mistake …’ Blunkett, interview with author
‘started playing footsie …’ Milburn, interview with author
‘ambiguous and on condition’ Prescott, Prezza: My Story, Pulling No Punches (Headline Review, 2008), p. 310
‘that a deal had actually …’ Mandelson, p. 372
‘a thousand people kicking …’ The Times, 12 January 2004
‘There will be absolutely no retreat …’ Guardian, 3 December 2003
‘This is where [Clinton’s] resilience …’ Blair, p. 233
On the morning of the vote … Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 235
‘relations between the Chancellor …’ The Times, 28 January 2004
‘There was no dishonourable …’ Blair, p. 460
‘simply playing to the gallery …’ The Times, 14 May 2004
‘Too good to be true’ Seldon and Kavanagh, pp. 104–5; Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 239
‘I really didn’t want that’ Blair, p. 463
‘unwise because it was never …’ ibid., pp. 495–6
‘Why are you still sitting here?’ Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 270
He told Brown … Blair, pp. 506–9
‘At the beginning …’ Blunkett, interview with author; Pollard p. 280
Unusually, the Tories were … The Times, 3 April 2004
With the polls showing that … ibid., 6 April 2004
To restore himself alongside … Seldon, Blair, p. 635
‘real abuses of …’ The Times, 7 and 28 April 2004; Blair article in The Times, 16 September 2004
And, to ingratiate himself … ibid., 26 October 2004
CHAPTER 35
‘I thought it was dishonest’ 4 Corners, Australian TV, 15 February 2005
‘convincing intelligence’ ISC report, para 66
Blair, her report concluded … ibid., p. 57
‘Why did he [Saddam] …’ Blair, p. 374
The Anglo-American bombing … ibid., p. 382
Possibly, Saddam was misled … The Times, 18 March 2004
The following year, Blair … Blair, p. 376
‘assumed an active chemical …’ ibid., p. 381
‘At stake …’ ibid., p. 389
‘The overall situation …’ Walker, interview with author
Despite Jack Straw’s later denials … Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 23 January 2015
So many countries … Greene, Blair, Labour and Palestine, p. 98
‘Without a political objective …’ Jackson, interview with author
‘conditions’ and ‘solutions’ Bowen, interview with author
the army’s fate languished … Fry, interview with author
Then Gordon Brown demanded … Chilcot, Walker
‘I’ve drawn a line …’ Walker, interview with author; Powell, p. 115
‘bring down the government …’ Powell, p. 126
‘I wasn’t sure that Tony …’ Mandelson, p. 296
‘I think Tony Blair uses …’ The Times, 22 March 2002
‘I am not seeing Tony …’ Mandelson, p. 386
At her behest … Levy, p. 217
‘He’s in a fight …’ Pollard, p. 292
‘There never was a moment …’ The Times, 17 September 2004
‘They had taken six months …’ Chilcot, Walker
The extra soldiers … The Times, 9 July 2004
‘do better in Afghanistan …’ Fry, interview with author
‘finish the job’ Elliott, High Command, p. 113
‘If you’re not happy …’ Walker, interview with author
‘I want to go to Afghanistan …’ Fry, interview with author
‘The chiefs say …’ Hoon, interview with author
CHAPTER 36
About 30 per cent of children … The Times, 27 April 2004
‘Links between expenditure …’ ibid., 7 January 2005
Blaming bad teachers … ibid., 23 February 2005
Although 21,700 more teachers … Seldon and Kavanagh, p. 276
‘ten-year-old pupils were ranked …’ Blair, p. 523
Immigrants, maintained Blair … ibid., pp. 523–4
‘Let’s move on …’ Clarke, interview with author
‘Are you serious, Trevor?’ Kavanagh, interview with author; Powell, p. 137
‘Changing a country …’ Blair, p. 28
‘How are we planning …’ O’Brien, interview with author
CHAPTER 37
Dearlove had told Taylor’s … ISC report, para 51
the agency was admitting … Butler report, para 413
a corrupted processing system … ibid., para 422
‘The dossier …’ ibid., paras 454, 458, 466
an instrument of persuasion … ibid., para 462
the dossier was not remotely connected … ibid., para 319
Dearlove was taken to task … ibid., paras 67, 331, 464
‘high regard …’ ibid., para 469
‘Perhaps we were too polite …’ Butler, interview with author
‘We conclude that it would …’ Butler report, para 392
Tony Blair, he told … New Statesman, 30 September 2004
He would later accuse Blair … Question Time, BBC TV, 28 April 2005
‘In the final analysis …’ Blair, p. 424
The two generals agreed … Dannatt, interview with author
‘I didn’t realise …’ Jackson, interview with author
‘We’re not doing any good …’ Fry, interview with author
Paralysis hung over Northwood. ibid.
CHAPTER 38
with the polls showing … The Times, 29 April 2004
‘what you did …’ Blair, pp. 581–2
‘Tony had gone …’ Levy, p. 226
‘TB really was …’ ibid., p. 232
‘pretty corrupt …’ The Times, 25 August 2004
‘previously saved £3 million …’ ibid., 16 May 2005
twenty-five of the 292 peers … ibid., 14 November 2005
‘Mad, bad and dangerous’ Mandelson, pp. 405–6
‘You can’t talk about …’ Powell, p. 125
‘Tony’s overriding concern …’ Mandelson, p. 201
the debt had risen from … Seldon and Kavanagh, p. 181
‘the mood trumps …’ Blair, p. 513
‘fantasy island …’ The Times, 7 February 2005, 17 June 2005
570,000 illegal immigrants … ibid., 1 July 2005
The Tories’ best … Blair, pp. 523–5
‘I believe in you …’ The Times, 14 February 2005
This line of attack … Blair, p. 511
‘We’ve lost’ Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 313
This was not his sentiment … Blair, p. 511
Labour was predicted to win … Only 61 per cent of the electorate voted, with Labour securing 35.2 per cent of the vote. In 2005, the party won 9.6 million votes; in 2001, it won 10.7 million votes; and, in 1997, it won 13.5 million votes
Blair half doubted … Mandelson, p. 409
‘ungenerous’ and ‘grim’ … Blair, p. 529
‘Gordon will make …’ The Times, 29 April 2005
She had just submitted … ibid., 21 April 2006
CHAPTER 39
The publication of these proposals … Warner, p. 91
Naturally, he would not admit … Blair, p. 211
‘There were no new ideas …’ McKeon, interview with author
‘The problem is always …’ Crisp, email to author, 30 March 2015
‘being strangled by …’ The Times, 31 August 2004
Just after the election … Warner, p. 157
Besides more doctors … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 10
staff productivity had risen … ibid., p. 32, citing King’s Fund report
unit costs in hospitals … King’s Fund, ‘Our Future Health Secured? A Review of NHS Funding and Performance’, 2007, p. 30: www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/files/kf/field/field_publication_file/our-future-health-secured-review-nhs-funding-performance-full-version-sir-derek-wanless-john-appleby-tony-harrison-darshan-patel-11-september-2007.pdf
The Healthcare Commission reported … King’s Fund, ‘Spending on Healthcare. How Much Is Enough?’ 2006
Pressed on why … Warner, p. 293; Crisp, p. 140; report, Parliamentary Select Health Committee, December 2005
Half of the annual increase … Department of Health, ‘Explaining the Deficit’, 2007, pp. 64–5
Within three years, GPs’ … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 33
‘John Reid paid out …’ Chisholm, interview with author
Weak hospital managers … King’s Fund, ‘Health and Ten Years …’ p. 7; House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts 2006–7, HC 506
The resulting higher pay … King’s Fund, ‘Our Future Health Secured?’, p. 10; Alberti, interview with author
In sum, by 2005 … King’s Fund, ‘Health and Ten Years …’, pp. 7, 40; Ham, Health Service Journal, 24 March 2010, p. 14; Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 4, citing Office for National Statistics and OECD
Britain’s premature death rates … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 15
Warner had sent Crisp and Hewitt … Warner, p. 157
Over half were serial … ibid., p. 78
Amid coughs and pauses … Calum Paton, House of Commons Select Committee on Health, written evidence, May 2006
Only £475 million would … King’s Fund, ‘Where’s the Money Going?’ February 2006
Contrary to Richard Douglas’s … Nuffield, ‘Pay Reform – Facts, Achievements and Lessons Learnt’, 2014
He ignored a report … Crisp, p. 93; Warner, p. 51; Financial Times, 6 February 2008
‘We lost clear direction’ Crisp, p. 51
Under Crisp, the funding … Hansard, House of Commons, 15 November 2005; Department of Health, ‘Explaining NHS Deficits’, February 2007
Similar mismanagement had … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 34
the 350 PCTs would increase … Paton, House of Commons Select Committee on Health, written evidence, May 2006
‘Probably I only found …’ Blair, pp. 216, 223
All the mantras … ibid., p. 212
‘I had lost power …’ Crisp, p. 164
CHAPTER 40
There was a chasm between … Goodhart, p. 223
‘What does Tony think …’ McNulty, interview with author
Rather than 13,000 … Goodhart, p. 215; BBC News, 30 June 2005; Spencer, ‘Immigration’, p. 355
Justin Russell, his special adviser … Goodhart, pp. 270, 283
But the revival of his interest … McNulty, interview with author
‘I really did feel …’ Blair, p. 584
‘You completely shafted me …’ Powell, p. 126
In retaliation, Brown … McBride, p. 175
Blair retaliated by … Powell, p. 126
‘We began to lose control …’ ibid., p. 298
He insisted on a Fundamental … Blair, pp. 587, 682
‘You asked for a fucking …’ Powell, p. 113
Belatedly, Blair recognised … Blair, p. 586
CHAPTER 41
‘settle Iraq and …’ Blair, p. 530
‘put[ting] some backbone …’ Tebbit, interview with author
the prime minister agreed … Walker, interview with author; Fry, interview with author
‘We can do Iraq and Afghanistan’ Walker, interview with author
‘we did not have any clear …’ ibid.
Knowing that Blair was … Elliott, p. 172
The number he had chosen … Cavanagh, ‘Ministerial Decision-Making in the Run-Up to the Helmand Deployment’, RUSI Journal, p. 51; Elliott, p. 155
‘If that’s your view …’ Walker, interview with author; Elliott, p. 132
‘As John made very …’ Blair, pp. 610–11
‘although Tony and Reid …’ Powell, p. 269
‘We would be perfectly happy …’ House of Commons Defence Committee, 8 February 2011
CHAPTER 42
as David Normington was forced … House of Commons Education Committee, 12 October 2005
The improvements in the test results … National Foundation for Educational Research Standards at KS3, November 2005; House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, January 2006
‘National tests …’ Primary National Survey, 2004
well-trained American teachers … Cassen, Making a Difference in Education, chapter 6, pp. 2–3; ‘Every Child a Reader and Every Child Counts’, White Paper, 2005
Some £885 million … House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, January 2006
one major project to improve … National Foundation for Educational Research Standards at KS3, November 2005
even sympathetic politicians … House of Commons Education Committee, 12 October 2005 (www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmpubacc/ 261/261.pdf)
Just nine out of 21,000 … The Times, 16 March 2005
The government was committed … ibid., 17 March 2005
His argument about education … Blair, pp. 580–1
the country had fallen from … The Times, 14 September 2005
Those 71,000 non-graduates … ibid., 22 September 2005
Ghettoisation in faith schools … Guardian, 18 January 2005
Bell was supported … ibid., 15 October 2005
Kelly encouraging primary schools … The Times, 22 December 2005