Blair in Parliament & on the TV Breakfast Sofa

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• How the papers & bloggers reported the Double Dose of Blair
• Tony Blair Faith Foundation Launch in USA
• Which nationality would choose Blair as their President?
• Which European leader is backing Blair as EU President?
• The Established Anglican Church & The Battling Bishops
• Charity Gala raises £25M: Tony Blair – (who else?) is keynote speaker

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6th June, 2008

A DOUBLE DOSE OF BLAIR

[If you think he looks a little tired here, go here to find out why]

As if one reminder of what we used to have at the top of British government wasn’t enough, on Thursday Tony Blair served up a double helping.

First he was live on the GMTV Breakfast interview. (Watch the three Blair videos on the right.) Then, just like old times, to Parliament for a meeting of the International Development Liaison Committee, where Blair reported back on his work for the Palestinians. You can watch it here at the Parliament Channel.

I am sure it wasn’t intentional that he was appearing in front of an important parliamentary committee and on a breakfast TV interview all on the same day. The international politician at home chatting about life, love, family, politics and other stuff. You just have to admire this natural ability to mix it just right. OK, well I have to admire it.

CHERIE MISSES TONY

When he is abroad so much these days that it seems the family are having a bit of a moan, he has to slot it all into the available “at home” days. And Cherie is evidently missing her high flying husband, according to this interview with an Italian magazine, reported here.

Excerpt from Cherie interview in Italian magazine:

Mrs Blair told the magazine that she felt more alone lately, since Mr Blair took up his new role as a Middle East peace envoy. “He was away for 10 days, and then came back for Leo’s first communion and now he is in the Middle East again. We certainly see each other less than before.”

BLAIR ON THE BREAKFAST SOFA

Following the GMTV breakfast show the ever helpful Daily Mail has its own take on Mr Blair’s thoughts on politicians and caution in answering questions:

Tony Blair returned to Westminster today with a warning to Gordon Brown that politicians appear “inhuman” if they are too cautious and fail to answer questions directly.

In his first live TV interview since quitting No 10, Mr Blair’s remarks sounded like a veiled reference to the criticism that his successor appears too robotic in the media.

Mr Blair, who ducked the question of whether he may be tempted back to the political frontline, showed Labour MPs what they had been missing with a relaxed performance on the GMTV sofa, talking frankly about his children, wife Cherie and fuel prices.

Read more …

Read this on the TV interview and a minute by minute report on the Committee session, by Andrew Sparrow of The Guardian. Apologies – I couldn’t avoid sticking my oar into the little CIFers.

BLAIR BEING “GRILLED” IN PARLIAMENT

Well, it wasn’t much of a roasting for us political anoraks. It just delights me how the press touted the event with a gleam in their ever-hopeful eye, as an upcoming grilling for Mr Blair. GRILLING!? I’ve grilled tougher toast than this. His report, as when he was PM, was direct, to the point and as fair as he diplomatically could be. Yet, while continuing to mention the daily rocket bombardments of Israeli towns by some Palestinian elements, he did not shy away from saying that the Israelis needed to work harder and faster for peace.

Bronwen Maddox of the Times says that “his account’s strength lay in not pretending to influence more than a sliver of the picture. In recommending tiny steps and low expectations, he struck the right tone (and Barack Obama has shown, in this week’s abrupt pro-Israel gesture, how to get it wrong).”

More from Maddox …

“After nearly a year of Blair’s absence from the British stage, it is easy to forget the expansive familiarity that wrongfoots fans and critics. “How are you guys doing?,” he said, settling in before the Commons International Development Select Committee, as a tanned traveller dropping in on his old home town; their questions, in comparison, were dry, tangled and deferential. Gesturing with fingers pressed into a tent — the universal mannerism, it seems, of those who pronounce on the Middle East — he expanded on the deal he struck last month as the envoy of the Quartet (the US, EU, Russia and United Nations).

The scheme lifts some West Bank checkpoints to help the economy, while demanding Palestinian security improvements, but the changes had not yet happened, he acknowledged. And he cautioned that the crisis in Gaza, blockaded by Israel in retaliation for rocket attacks, “could overwhelm everything . . . the current situation won’t hold and isn’t acceptable”.

But Northern Ireland showed that “if you get some normality and calm, everything becomes possible”. He cited, as any optimist does, the support of most Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution, and added that “if the only alternative . . . is a one-state solution, then there’s going to be a hell of a fight”.

His old skill in professing understanding of each side has been put to good use. To those who want talks with Hamas even though it does not recognise Israel, he said: “I totally understand people who say that [although] it’s not the Quartet’s position” while adding that “you can’t dispute that Hamas has a military grip on Gaza and if they wanted to stop these [rocket] attacks they could”. He spent much time asserting impartiality, noting: “I’ve come to realise that what each side says about the other is essentially true.” He did argue that Israel “has to go farther and faster, especially on the West Bank”, and that some of its settlements “are illegal under Israeli law, never mind international law”, but did not mention its recent decision to expand them.

He said that “there will a real problem if a new American president takes a couple of years” to focus on the problem, which, he argued, was “fundamental to security in the region and to peace between Islam and the West”. Iraq may have compromised his own ability to make that case, one MP suggested yesterday. But still, he made a good case that his time in Bethlehem hotels counting tourists has not been wasted, and that there are parts of the deadlock that are susceptible to the talking cure.”

BREAKING NEWS as Blair spoke to Parliament Committee – Gaza Water Agency working with Blair seized by Hamas

Happening on the day that Blair spoke to a Parliamentary Committee about working to keep all sides on board, this highlights the difficulties faced by all those seeking peace. The Israelis, Abbas’s government and the international community are in a deep quandary. How do they work with Hamas when it clearly refuses to recognise Israel and is intent on its destruction? And how, when they now seem to have hijacked this important process for the dissemination of water and sewage plants to the region? And yet, Hamas is the elected Palestinian government since January 2006, and since June 2007 now controls Gaza.

(Read more here on Hamas/Fatah relationship)

Mr Blair agreed in his interview, before this news broke, that it was difficult. He noted that others, such as the Norwegians, were adopting a diplomatic role and were known to be ‘speaking’ to Hamas.

The Scotsman stresses how catastrophic the seizure of the Water Agency could be for ordinary residents.

Article on Hamas’s action follows:

JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas has seized control of the Palestinian water agency that is spearheading Middle East envoy Tony Blair’s signature project in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Western officials said on Thursday.

Hamas’s takeover of the Palestinian Water Authority in Gaza cements the group’s control over the territory and could cast doubt on the future of the North Gaza Sewage Treatment Works project — a centerpiece of an economic package touted by Blair to try to bolster the chances of a peace deal this year.

The seizure comes ahead of a planned tender by the Water Authority for building a water treatment plant, and amid delicate negotiations with Israel on bringing critical building supplies into Gaza, which Hamas Islamists seized a year ago.

An official with the World Bank, which is coordinating the project, said construction was expected to move forward as planned because the Water Authority officials involved work out of a separate office and still report to President Mahmoud Abbas’s Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank.

“There are, as yet, no adverse implications for the project to proceed,” a Blair spokesman said. “We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.”

Gazans view the project as urgent — last year, five people drowned in a wave of raw sewage from a plant in northern Gaza. Israel had argued that equipment needed to repair the sewage system could be used to make rockets that are fired into Israel.

The former British prime minister is the special envoy to the Palestinians from the Quartet of international powers.

Hamas officials had no immediate comment.

The group may see the Water Authority as a source of funding to bypass an Israeli-led blockade of the territory that has sharply reduced supplies of fuel and other essentials. The Water Authority collects fees for wells. With water scarce in parched Gaza and imports restricted, wells are in high demand.

Rebhi al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the Water Authority, said Hamas gunmen took over the main building at midday on Wednesday, asserting they were acting on orders from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s cabinet and his Interior Ministry. He said Hamas seized vehicles and keys to the building.

PLAN IN JEOPARDY

Sheikh said a $60 million sewage treatment facility, part of the broader North Gaza sewage project touted by Blair, may now be in jeopardy, citing a U.S.-led boycott on financial dealings with Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

“Coordination with donor countries could be affected because donor parties could question the credibility of the Water Authority now that it has been taken over by Hamas,” Sheikh said, adding that Israeli cooperation could also be hindered.

Israel has tightened its cordon of the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s takeover, and it took months of lobbying by Blair and other Western officials to get permission to bring in pipes, wire and other equipment to bolster the crumbling sewage system.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the impact of Hamas’s takeover of the Water Authority.

Blair said last month that Israel’s Defence Ministry had agreed to provide a “letter of comfort” to the Water Authority to encourage potential donors to provide funds.

Sheikh said the Water Authority, Blair’s office and the World Bank met Israeli officials earlier this week to work out arrangements to bring in building supplies and other equipment.

“I call upon rational people in Hamas to think of the grave consequences that will affect the water sector and to be aware of the projects with donors that may get suspended,” he said.

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WHAT THE PAPERS & BLOGGERS SAY ON BLAIR’S REAPPEARANCES

Coffee House at The Spectator blog says ‘Blair spoke in fluent human’: (excerpt)

Tony Blair’s return to the GMTV sofa and Parliament yesterday showed up Gordon Brown’s communications deficiencies. Blair spoke in fluent human, defused tensions with the odd joke and was relaxed in his command of the detail. In short, it was a reminder of why Blair was such a formidable politician and helped explain why Brown is struggling so badly.

The Times Sketch by Ann Treneman points up, as do most other commenters, the obvious comparisons with the present PM.

“For those of us who used to watch him for a living, yesterday was like déjà view all over again. The tan, the wry asides, the puppet hand gestures, the fluent grasp of detail, the excuses about Cherie. It all seemed so familiar and looked so utterly effortless.”

And …

“The very first question, from a viewer, was incredibly rude about Gordo. “Tony, I can’t believe you’ve dumped us with Gordon Brown! Explain yourself!” There was a pause. Tony had a little stare. His very white teeth flashed but the smile went before you could see it. “I think that’s a little harsh!” he burbled in exactly the way that we all wish Gordon would learn to burble.”

This on the Taxpayers Alliance blog from a writer who disagrees with Blair on virtually everything else:

“As Anthony Blair stated a series of truisms unlikely to impress the NGOs and their spokesmen on the committee I developed a healthy respect for him. On virtually everything else we are in complete disagreement but on this issue Blair seems to get it. He seems comfortable in his role and optimistic as to the chances of achieving a lasting peace. I watched the testimony in a room dubbed the spill over room (the Boothroyd room). This was a powerful response to any delusions of grandeur politicos such as I may have i.e. being a non pass holder I could only view Blair’s performance on a tv screen. As I left I saw Oxfam guy shake his head. I think Blair did well today and we should all wish him well – in this role – in the future. Hopefully he will provide Oxfam with much to tut tut about in future.”

A touch of ‘the enemy of my enemy … ‘ here?

Some “insider” quotes from Andrew Grice at The Independent including - ‘As he signed autographs for the public in Portcullis House, some Labour MPs looked on ruefully. “Come back soon, all is forgiven,” one quipped.’

Other quotes to be found at Grice’s article, on Brown:

In private:

“I told you so.” senior Blairite

“He’s got to go – that is the phrase I hear at Westminster more than any other.” Former cabinet minister

“The Cabinet has a duty to tell him to stand down. They are the leadership of the party and that is their responsibility.” Senior Labour backbencher

“We are in deep shit. Very few people think Gordon can now turn it round.” Junior minister

“He’s crap at communication and the role of a leader is to communicate.” Cabinet minister, speaking anonymously

“He’s just not as good as I thought he would be.” Another cabinet member

“He’s made terrible misjudgements. There’s a sense that the Government is being buffeted by storms rather than steering a clear course.” Third Cabinet minister

icWales Network says

Mr Brown has too much on his plate to think about jokes, still less appearing relaxed or having a tan like his old rival Mr Blair.

At least the former PM is sticking to his promise not to interfere, Thatcher-style, in the running of the Government. In a TV interview before arriving at Westminster, Mr Blair offered this: “It’s tough for all leaders at the moment, right round the Western world, they have got things that are happening that, to be fair to them, is not really their individual fault.”

That sort of faint praise will probably darken Mr Brown’s mood even further. As he prepares for talks on Northern Ireland today and a crunch terrorism vote next week, at least he can console himself that jet-set Mr Blair is hardly likely to be back on his turf in hurry.

REALLY? I’m beginning to wonder.

This site has some useful pointers to Blair’s main contributions to the parliamentary committee.

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Blair is still the most influential man in the UK according to poll. I wonder why, Mr Brown?

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BLAIR LAUNCHES HIS FAITH FOUNDATION IN THE USA

See the report and his speech at the Tony Blair website

Time report, with video (which had no audio for me – perhaps it’ll work for you).

It strikes me yet again, that this man is ahead of the game. Now, we may not all agree in this semi-religious island of ours in a largely secular continet that religion is necessary, or even a good thing in itself. BUT this is one issue that Blair has now made his own; inarguably. He doesn’t share this particular project with that other man of faith, Gordon Brown! This is something he intends to pursue for ‘the rest of his life’.

He must be feeling a great sense of freedom that he can finally tell it like it is as far as his religious faith is concerned. And no deals in restaurants (or sister-in-law’s apartment) to worry about!

If ever there was a time to bring religions together for good, not evil, that time is now.

This article, aside from listing some already signed up to the TBFF, shows that fundamentalist Christians do not all sing from Blair’s hymnsheet. Referring to Blair as “The former Prime Minister of Europe”, it doesn’t quite accuse him of being the false prophet. But it hardly endorses his lack of pushing Christianity s the true religion. This proves that some of us were made for life’s certainties, some for politics, some for diplomacy. Circumspection or introspection? Which do you prefer?

The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson says:

NEW YORK — The American kickoff of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation last week unintentionally revealed the mountain of misunderstanding the former British prime minister has undertaken to scale. At an event designed to further mutual religious sympathy, two of the panelists — including the president of Yale University, Richard Levin — casually asserted that religious Americans who support pro-life restrictions on international family planning aid are as doctrinaire and exclusionary as Saudi extremists. Pro-life Catholics and evangelicals? Wahhabi extremists? What’s the difference?

Clearly, mutual religious sympathy has a ways to go in places such as Yale.

Speaking to me after the event, Blair was patient, arguing that that “could not be what they intended.” He admitted that on issues such as the rights of women, things “will be difficult,” but he insisted that “there is a larger unity.” He has no intention of being distracted from his mission.

It is a new and unpredicted role for Tony Blair: the faithful servant against a faithless world.

And this writer linked to the Michael Gerson article with this heartfelt comment:

Tony Blair is one of the world’s great men. He was the first common sense prime minister from the Labor party. His oratory enlightens and inspires. He is brave. I have often times wished Tony Blair had been our President during the Clinton and George W. Bush years. Americans would have been proud of their leader. I wish I saw a Tony Blair on America’s horizon. Jim

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MR PRESIDENT BLAIR

A quarter of Poles would choose Tony Blair as their president if given a free choice, according to this recent opinion poll.

He left other prospective possibilities in his wake – second being Angela Merkel, with 14%.

Mr EU President Blair

Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is said to believe the £200,000 a year job must go to a “charisma politician” and sees Mr Blair as the ideal choice.

This week Cherie Blair described a night she and her husband spent at the billionaire’s villa in Sardinia in 2004 as one of the best nights of her life.

Mr Berlusconi laid on a fireworks display for the couple which lit up the sky with the words “Viva Tony!”

EU heads of state and government, including Gordon Brown, will discuss candidates for the post for the first time at a summit dinner in Brussels on June 19.

Mr Blair, who has not thrown his hat into the ring formally, has already won the support of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President. Mr Brown has said he will back Mr Blair if he really wants the job.

Mr Blair’s chances may well hinge on persuading Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, to back him.

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