Latest news with #Tony Blair
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Cables reveal UK view on Howard's personality, Australia's part in Kyoto ‘awkward squad' and an aborted cricket match
Plus ça change. At the turn of the millennium, Australia was in the throes of 'one of its periodic bouts of angst over its place in the Asia-Pacific and the wider world'. It was doubting the reliability of its ally the US, wrestling with the issue of Indigenous reconciliation, and attracting criticism for its under commitment to addressing the climate crisis. And it was trying to organise a game of cricket against the English. Just released papers from Britain's National Archives shed light on intergovernmental correspondence between the governments of Australia and the UK before a prime ministerial visit to London in 2000 to mark Australia Week, and the centenary of the Australian constitution. Correspondence between the governments of the conservative prime minister John Howard and the UK Labour leader Tony Blair reveal a suite of problems still being grappled with in Australia a quarter of a century later. 'Personality notes' written for Blair describe Howard as a leader who had 'started well' as prime minister, particularly on gun control after the Port Arthur massacre, but who 'appeared to lose his way' during his first term. Importantly for the UK, it saw Howard as an 'instinctive monarchist … well-disposed towards Britain'. The sketch says Howard was a 'strong family man', significantly influenced by his wife, Janette, that he was a 'fanatical follower' of cricket, and a 'great admirer' of Sir Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi. In a scene-setting cable dated June 2000 prepared for Blair, the UK high commissioner noted: 'Australia is going through one of its periodic bouts of angst over its place in the Asia-Pacific and the wider world'. It said Australia took 'enormous national pride' in its intervention in Timor-Leste the year before (despite significant damage to its relationship with Indonesia), saying that the Australian-led peacekeeping mission 'raised Australia's stock in Asia'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email However, 'critics argue that it simply hardened a view widely held in Asia that Australia is ambivalent, even antagonist, towards Asia'. Timor-Leste, the cable noted, had also strained Canberra's relations with Washington DC. 'The [US's] perceived reluctance to assist Australia is seen as an indication that the US could not be relied on automatically in circumstances that are of little interest to it. 'More broadly, some are doubting that the US will retain interest in the alliance unless Australia increases its commitment, in terms of defence spending. 'The litmus test is Taiwan: having to choose between the US and China is the nightmare scenario on Australia's strategic and diplomatic horizon. Few doubt Australia would choose the US but the calculations are becoming less clearcut.' In 2025, the US defense secretary has insisted Australia lift defence spending to 3.5% of its GDP, while Trump administration officials have demanded assurances from Australia it would support the US in any conflict over Taiwan. On climate, Blair was briefed that although Australia had signed the Kyoto protocol to cut emissions, it had not ratified the treaty. The British government suspected Howard would not raise the matter during the two leaders' meeting. 'If Howard doesn't mention it, you should raise climate change,' Blair's brief states. 'The Australians are in the awkward squad on Kyoto (alongside eg the Russians and the US): you should tell Howard how important we think the issues are, and encourage Australia to do more.' In the quarter-century since, Australian governments have been consistently criticised internationally for failing to adequately address the climate crisis. A federal court judge last week found previous Australian governments had 'paid scant, if any, regard to the best available science' in setting emissions reductions targets. Other files reveal concern within Blair's government about an Indigenous delegation that visited the UK in late 1999. Leading the delegation was Patrick Dodson, a Yawuru elder and later senator, often referred to as the 'father of reconciliation'. During the same trip, he met Queen Elizabeth II as part of a larger effort to foster reconciliation. However, a memo written by Blair's foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, reflects angst within the prime minister's office about a proposed meeting with the delegation, referring to an apparent intervention by the then Australian high commissioner, Philip Flood. 'The Australians are pretty wound up about the idea of you seeing the Aborigines at all,' Sawers wrote to Blair. 'Their high commissioner rang me to press you not to see them: they were troublemakers – it would be like [the then Australian prime minister] John Howard seeing people from Northern Ireland who were trying to stir up problems for the UK.' The memo suggested: 'Can't we plead diary problems?' The word 'yes' is written in answer to this, in handwriting that resembles Blair's. A quarter-century later, Dodson was a key advocate for an Indigenous voice to parliament, put to Australians in a referendum in 2023. The voice proposal was ultimately defeated. Also within the National Archives files is a prescient document from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to the UK High Commission in Canberra. It reflects on a visit from a 'rising star in the Australian Labor party and a useful contact for the FCO'. The 'rising star' had reflected on Australia's place in its region (and was summarised by an FCO official): 'There were two main problems to Australia being part of Asia: a large slice of the region did not accept them, probably because of a common experience of European occupation – and Australia were too white; and Australians saw themselves as Australians rather than Asian, or indeed Europeans or Americans.' The visitor's name was Kevin Rudd, the man who in 2007 would replace Howard as the next prime minister of Australia. As the 2000 Australia Week visit from prime minister Howard approached, a flurry of correspondence between the two governments sought to put the finishing touches to the trip. The files contain flight details, hotel bookings, and to-the-minute travel arrangements. There are discussions of trumpet fanfares and processional routes. One idea ultimately discarded was a cricket match proposed by Howard, to be played between Australian and English XIs at a ground near Chequers, the British prime ministerial country house. 'The teams could, perhaps, consist of one or two current Test players, a recently retired great cricketer or two, with the balance being young players of promise.' Blair's private secretary, Philip Barton, wrote in a memo to the UK prime minister: 'I suspect the last thing you will want to do is go to a cricket match on the Saturday. But if we just say no, this would no doubt come out and you would look unsporting.' Barton proposed getting former Tory prime minister John Major, an avowed cricket fan, to raise an XI on Blair's behalf, 'but it may not be enough to stop the prime minister having to go to at least the start of the match'. A third option was to 'turn it into a charity match'. The match did not go ahead.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blair happy to keep guitar from Bono – but not one from Mexico's president
Prime minister Tony Blair was delighted to keep a guitar presented to him by the rock star Bono – but when it came to a similar gift from the president of Mexico, not so much. Official files released to the National Archives show Mr Blair was keen to take advantage of rules on ministerial gifts to buy the instrument given to him by the U2 singer and Live Aid campaigner once he left office. He did, however, question whether he would have to pay 'the full purchase price'. No 10 officials suggested the prime minister, who fronted a rock band called Ugly Rumours in his student days, might want to take the same approach when it came to a white Fender Stratocaster, valued at £2,500, from the Canadian singer Bryan Adams. However, Mr Blair was much less enthusiastic about an acoustic Vargas guitar presented to him by President Vicente Fox during an official visit to Mexico in 2001, noting: 'I don't actually use it.' The files also show that Mr Blair rejected advice that he should not keep a Pro Braided tennis racket given to him by the manufacturer, Slazenger. Officials feared that it was part of a 'marketing ploy' by the company and suggested it should be donated to a children's charity as 'you cannot be seen to endorse any product'. Mr Blair, however, instructed them just to thank the company, adding: 'It is very churlish to refuse to use it.'
Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Tony Blair's letter saying sorry to Guildford Four was not meant as apology
A widely reported letter from UK prime minister Tony Blair to one of the Guildford Four, where he was understood to have said sorry for them being wrongly convicted, was never meant as an apology. New cabinet documents released by the National Archives in London show it was intended that Mr Blair would stop short of an apology and instead just express regret that they went through a miscarriage of justice. A letter sent by Mr Blair to Courtney Kennedy Hill, the wife of Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, was reported to have been the first time that a British leader had apologised for the wrongful conviction. Mr Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson were given life sentences for bombing public houses in Guildford, Surrey, and each spent 15 years in prison. Their convictions were overturned by the court of appeal in 1989. READ MORE In a letter to John Sawers, foreign policy adviser to Mr Blair, Stephen Harrison of the Home Office wrote: 'The prime minister said ... that he was very sorry indeed that there were miscarriages of justice in Paul Hill's case and the cases of those convicted with him. 'This was not intended to be an apology: rather, the prime minister was acknowledging that the four were victims of miscarriages of justice, and expressing his regret that this should have happened. 'However, in June this year, the letter was publicised for the first time and was widely reported in the media as an apology.' Ms Kennedy Hill wrote to Mr Blair in April 1999 to query her husband's compensation for the 15 'stolen years' he had spent in prison. 'For this terrible miscarriage of justice Paul Hill has received no apology,' she wrote. When Mr Blair replied the next month, he said: 'I believe that it is an indictment of our system of justice and a matter for the greatest regret when anyone suffers punishment as a result of a miscarriage of justice. There were miscarriages of justice in your husband's case and the cases of those convicted with him. I am very sorry indeed that this should have happened.' [ Blair apologises to the Guildford Four Opens in new window ] The letter Mr Blair sent used a similar form of words that was used by the home secretary in a letter to one of the Birmingham Six, said Mr Harrison. Details of the letter to Ms Kennedy Hill emerged in an edition of BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight programme which told Mr Hill's story in 2000. The human rights solicitor Gareth Peirce, who was acting for one of the other members of the Guildford Four, complained about the fact the letter had only been sent to Ms Kennedy Hill and said it had caused additional hurt to the other three. Home secretary Jack Straw suggested Mr Blair write to the other members. The following year, 2001, Anne Maguire of the Maguire Seven wrote to Mr Blair asking for an apology for herself, her husband and her sons for their wrongful conviction for the unlawful possession of explosions.
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Why Tony Blair was unhappy with guitar gifted by Mexico's president
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was reportedly keen to hold onto a guitar gifted by U2 frontman Bono, newly released official files reveal. The documents, from the National Archives in Kew, west London, show Mr Blair was eager to use the rules on ministerial gifts to acquire the instrument from the Live Aid campaigner once he left office. He did, however, question whether he would have to pay "the full purchase price". Under the rules, Mr Blair, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was allowed to accept gifts worth over £140, but had to pay for them himself, less the £140 difference. No 10 officials suggested that the prime minister might want to take the same approach when it came to a white Fender Stratocaster, worth £2,500, from the Canadian singer Bryan Adams. But while delighted with those offerings, Mr Blair's enthusiasm waned for a similar gift from the president of Mexico. Of the acoustic Vargas guitar, which was presented to him by President Vicente Fox during an official visit to Mexico in 2001, he said: 'I don't actually use it.' Mr Blair is a noted music fan and played guitar and sang in a rock band called Ugly Rumours while a student at the University of Oxford. In 2000, rock legends Pete Townshend, David Bowie and Mick Jagger bought a 1957 Fender Stratocaster, once owned by Eric Clapton, in a charity auction and gave it to Mr Blair. However, the prime minister gave the guitar back so it could be auctioned again to raise more money for flood and drought victims in Africa. Appearing on the BBC's Desert Island Discs on 1996, Mr Blair chose a guitar for his luxury item. The files also show that the prime minister rejected advice that he should not keep a Pro Braided tennis racket given to him by the manufacturer, Slazenger. Officials feared that it was part of a 'marketing ploy' by the company and suggested it should be donated to a children's charity as 'you cannot be seen to endorse any product'. Mr Blair, however, instructed them to simply thank the company, adding: 'It is very churlish to refuse to use it.'
Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Why Starmer's punishment beating won't bring Labour MPs to heel
Join the dots and it is not hard to work out what is going on with the punishment announced on Wednesday for seven Labour MPs who voted against the welfare bill. Sir Keir Starmer's personal authority took a major hit a fortnight ago when 127 Labour MPs – one in four – put their names to an amendment blocking his welfare cuts package. A year into power, a Prime Minister who won a House of Commons majority of a similar scale to Sir Tony Blair's was struggling to pass a proposed law he dubbed morally right and fiscally essential. The episode revealed deep failings in Downing Street's political intelligence operation, hubris among the Starmer inner circle and the dangers of rushing through sensitive reforms to save money. Most of it all lit up, in bright technicolour, a newfound willingness of an otherwise pliant Parliamentary Labour Party to speak back to the boss. Something, as they say, had to be done. The 'suspended four' And so we have the first step: four Labour MPs stripped of the whip – meaning they are now forced to sit as independents until further notice – and another three losing trade envoy appointments. Why not action against all 127 Labour MPs who put their name to the rebel amendment? Or all 49 ones who, even after the welfare bill was gutted of almost all savings, still voted against it? The explanation is in the numbers. The former would have wiped out the Government's majority, the latter taken a huge chunk from it. Action on that scale was unthinkable. So a more measured approach was needed, an attempt to show that defying the Prime Minister was not without consequence while also minimising the backlash. And so the four persistent critics of the Government have been singled out and scalped. They had committed 'repeated breaches of party discipline', to use the formal explanation briefed out by the Labour Party. This was true. Rachael Maskell has become one of the most vocal critics of Sir Keir on the Labour backbenches, penning articles about how to rebel and giving interviews about her newfound role as a thorn in the side of No 10. Chris Hinchliff was dubbed 'Nimby-in-Chief' by colleagues, recently leading an amendment to the Government's planning bill – one of Sir Keir's flagship pieces of legislation – to avoid the watering down of environmental protections. He is now tipped to join the Greens. Brian Leishman has hammered ministers over the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery. Neil Duncan-Jordan challenged many cuts, including pushing to postpone the Winter Fuel Payment reduction. But the argument also gave No 10 cover for why many more rebels have not been reprimanded. Only those who crossed over some unspecified extra threshold got slapped down. We have seen this play before. In fact, just a year ago, when seven Labour MPs were stripped of the whip after voting to end the two-child benefit cap, defying the Government whip. It was a divide and conquer tactic. Four eventually returned to being Labour MPs, two remain on the naughty step as independents and the seventh – Zarah Sultana – has quit the party, vowing to start her own Left-wing movement. The message being sent is not subtle. 'Shoot one to educate thousands', as a former member of Team Starmer put it on Wednesday. But will it really work? PM under threat from Reform The Starmer of July 2024 is not the Starmer of July 2025. The former was at the height of his political power, having swept into office weeks earlier on a wave of anti-Tory sentiment, ending the party's 14 years all at sea in opposition. Now, Downing Street is struggling to show it has a plan for stopping Reform's poll-topping support surge which has got scores of Labour MPs in narrowly won seats jittery. Indeed, the real bite of the welfare rebellion came not from it being the 'usual suspects' but that concerns about the cuts package were so widespread they could be found across Labour's many factions. Will Dame Meg Hillier, the widely respected chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee who led the negotiating delegation to discuss the terms of the Government's climbdown, hesitate from rebelling again after this disciplinary action? There is no evidence to suggest the answer is yes – especially given she has escaped any telling off herself. Will Vicky Foxcroft, who was so opposed to the hastily put together welfare plan that she resigned as a Government whip, bite her lip in a repeat scenario because of this whips action on Wednesday? Unlikely. Cabinet overhaul Indeed, there was an immediate backlash from the Left – vows of 'solidarity with the suspended four' and howls of 'outrage' – that suggests in the short-term things will be more, not less, turbulent. More changes to right what went wrong with the welfare package are coming. No 10 is seeking advice and mulling over a summer 'reset'. An overhaul of Downing Street personnel, reforms to the machinery of Government and a ministerial reshuffle are all now widely expected ahead of the September party conference. The breadth, speed and scale of a shake-up – and whose Government careers are left in the bin – is all to be determined. But if the Prime Minister thinks a punishment beating of just seven of the 127 Labour MPs who defied him over welfare will bring this rebellious backbench to heel, he may be in for a nasty surprise.
