Tony Blair Archive from October 1997

From the an article from Business Week by Rudi Dornbusch dated 11/10/97:

"European policymakers are torn between common sense and a myopic denial of reality. They can't decide whether to let market forces operate or simply keep the status--and statist--quo. The French election of a Socialist Prime Minister and the recent Italian deal between Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his left-wing coalition partner suggest that Europe's statist side may be triumphing. But Tony Blair in Britain and Gerhard Schroeder in Germany (if he wins the upcoming elections) may tilt Europe toward markets. The fight for Europe is in full swing.

"Over the past year, Europe's political landscape has changed a lot. Britain elected Labour, and Blair is less likely to halt the Thatcher revolution than complete it. He is simply putting a softer face on conservative policies. It is no accident that he was not well received when he talked to the Trades Union Congress.

The next round in the battle for Europe will come in Germany. Chancellor Helmut Kohl has done his great deed--reunification. He is too tired to campaign for victory, and the electorate is too weary to hand it to him. More likely than not, Social Democrat Schroeder will beat him, just as Labour won in Britain. His victory is more likely because he has the Clinton-Blair touch: He is not burdened with a lot of convictions. Accordingly, he has no program and can seem caring, sympathetic, and unthreatening to all. But come next fall, he will probably be in office and must then make his choices.

" .... What do we know about Schroeder? He certainly is not running on a business ticket, but he did let slip a powerful hint. Asked about Britain, he noted that Blair had a cushy job: Thatcher had done the dirty work, while Blair got to put some frosting on the cake.

From The Daily Telegraph, October 30, 1997:

Dennis Healey talking to Petronella Wyatt:
"...'I invented Blairism, you know. I wrote an article in 1952 saying we should stop all this class war stuff and cosying up to the unions.'"
"Nevertheless, one has the impression that Healey is ill at ease with Blair. Rather ambiguously, he calls him 'the Princess Diana of politics - with something for everybody.'" "Does he think Blair's popularity will last?
"'No. It won't. Of course, it won't.'
"So what is Blair doing wrong?
"'He is far too cautious about taxes. The Government should raise income tax levels. The electorate would accept it; I even think people want it these days.'...

From The Times, October 28, 1997:

"Tony Blair had to apologise yesterday to Commonwealth leaders for cutting short their summit weekend retreat amid fury over a series of protocol blunders by the British Government.
"British officials were accused of 'arrogance' over the way the Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh had been conducted and that the press were told about confidential discussions from the private retreat at St Andrews. Several countries, including the smaller Caribbean states, were incensed that the normal retreat at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting had been reduced from one and a half days - from Saturday lunchtime to Sunday evening - to five hours....

From The Independent on Sunday, October 26, 1997:

"Three weeks ago Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, was photographed in conversation with Prime Minister, Tony Blair inside 10 Downing Street. At the time Gates's company claimed he was a "special adviser" to the Government's initiative to connect schools to the internet and that Microsoft was "involved in shaping UK technology policies".
"Howls of protest have come from British based competititors outraged that Mr Blair seemed to align himself with a company under investigation by the European Union, the US Justice Department and Japan's Fair Trade Commission...
"'It was naive of the Government to associate itself with Gates and Microsoft in this way," said Stephen Voller, managing director of Netscape Communications UK ....."I have written to Mr Blair complaining and pointing out that Netscape has always offered free software for educational purposes.'
"Oracle UK, another Microsoft rival, lodged a similar complaint...
"Sun Microsystems, a third Microsoft competitor took the same line. 'I was appalled by the pathetic images of Bill Gates schmoozing with Tony Blair and his cabinet ministers,' said Martin Lambert, director of markets and technologies for Sun Microsystems UK...
"Downing Street quickly distanced the Government from Microsoft.'Bill Gates is not a special adviser on the National Grid for Learning, and he wasn't given any remit to be involved,' said a spokesperson ....

From the Sunday Times, October 26, 1997:

"'If you had to make one of Mr Blair's cabinet into a rock star,' I ask Alan McGee, 37, creator of Oasis, boss of Creation Records, former drug addict, Scottish patriot, financial contributor to new Labour and member of the government's Creative Industries Taskforce,'who would you choose?'
"'Blair himself. Like Oasis, he's got appeal for all ages.'

From The Sunday Telegraph, October 26, 1997:

"Downing Street is preparing to ban MPs from standing for the post of London mayor in a move designed to destroy Ken Livingstone's hopes of returning to power in the capital.
"Mr Blair's aides are worried that the Left-wing MP - who has been a constant thorn in the side of the Prime Minister - will make him the front runner to win the party's nomination for the capital's first mayoral elections in 2000..."[webmaster's note: this second paragraph doesn't seem to quite make sense!]

From The Daily Telegraph, October 25, 1997:

"Tony Blair was arrested as a schoolboy after being mistaken for a burglar while attempting to climb in through a window at Fettes College late at night, his former housemaster has recalled.
"Eric Anderson recounts the incident in an interview in the Daily Telegraph today. He also speaks of disagreements over the young Mr Blair's hair, and his former pupil's questionable grasp of syntax.
"Mr Blair and his two 16-year-old friends had stolen out of Fettes for a night out in Edinburgh - possibly involving girls, Mr Anderson says....
"However it seems that old habits die hard. [Mr Anderson says:]"In the year when I taught him English, I did spend a lot of time making sure his sentences always had verbs, and I'm sorry to see he's slipped in recent years."

From The Guardian, October 25, 1997:

"Michael Mansfield QC is a die-hard grand old rebel. He has rejected the Labour Party, dismisses Blair as a Tory, and thereby disqualifies himself from the headlong rush of so many of his senior legal contemporaries to sup in the Labour Government trough of power..."

From the Independent, October 24, 1997:

"The Independent reveals the most damaging link yet to hit the Blair government. It will severely dent the Prime Minister's credibility in trying to relaunch the nation as 'cool Britannia'. Ian Burrell reveals that Tony Blair is a secret fan of Jonathan King, the man who brought the world 'Una Paloma Blanca'.
"... Mr Blair gushes: 'You [King] have made an important contribution to one of this country's great success stories and this award [BPI Man of the Year] is very well deserved.'
"...Told that he was to receive a message from the Prime Minister, King was clearly surprised.
"'If he says: 'I have smashed up my copy of Una Paloma Blanca and you are a man of no talent and even less charisma', then I would think:'Thank heavens we have someone who speaks his mind'," said the pundit."If he says: 'We consider you to be a great ambassador for the industry', then I shall be sneaking off to the toilets to be sick."

From The Independent, October 24, 1997:

"When Ron Rose was writing the script for his BBC political trilogy Love and Reason, he used Tony Blair as a consultant...
"In recent weeks Mr Rose has been doing some more writing; a succession of pamphlets, also detailing local political intrigue but in the real life town of Doncaster.
"This time Mr Blair may be less happy with the contents. The pamphlets headed "Donnygate" - include serious allegations of a highly personal nature which have drawn Mr Rose into a legal battle with the junior Labour whip and Doncaster North MP, Kevin Hughes...
"Mr Rose....is a long-standing close friend of Cherie Booth's actor father Tony and is currently working on a television drama based on Mr Booth's real-life love affair with the Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix, which will be shown in January...."

From The Times, October 23, 1997:

"A handful of unhappy City traders booed Tony Blair yesterday, apparently venting their anger over the Government's stance on the European Single Currency.
"The Prime Minister suffered the indignity of being heckled by a few high-spirited dealers when he appeared on a balcony above the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange.
"When he reached the trading floor, however he was given a warm welcome..."

From The Guardian, October 22, 1997:

"Tony Blair's pre-election promises to outlaw animal testing for cosmetics have been abandoned, the Home Office confirmed yesterday..."

From The Independent, October 22, 1997:

"Tony Blair will announce Labour's first privatisation today when he launches a new Commonwealth Business Forum in Edinburgh.
"A partial sell-off of the Commonwealth Development Corporation, a wholly owned government company which invests in developing countries, will raise money for other aid projects...
"...The Government will sell off a majority holding in the corporation, which has £1.6 billion invested in more than 400 projects in 54 countries. The money raised will be put back into the Department for International Development to aid its core aim of alleviating poverty..."

From The Independent, October 22, 1997:

"Tony Blair last night came under fire for initially entering Parliament as an MP on a manifesto which included banning the bomb, pulling out of Europe and wholesale nationalisation.
"Speaking at a Young Fabian Society meeting in Westminster Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, reminded the Prime Minister that it was his organisation which was fighting to reform the party when constituencies still encumbered the leadership with far-left policies ..."

From The Financial Times, October 21, 1997:

"'I will have no truck with a European superstate. If there are moves to create that dragon I will slay it.' So said Tony Blair, tailoring his language to The Sun's audience of 10 million readers. That was little more than a week before the general election ...
"In the same article, Mr Blair reiterated his party's position that a Labour government would enter a European single currency only if this was approved in a referendum ...
"On the first day of the campaign, on March 17, The Sun announced it was backing Mr Blair in spite of 'grave reservations' about Labour's position on European Union.
"Senior Labour figures regarded that single endorsement as vindication of their strenuous efforts to woo the tabloids. These efforts have continued unabated in government..."

From The Daily Telegraph, October 21, 1997:

"Sporting personalities arrived at 10 Downing Street last night for a reception hosted by Tony Blair in honour of a string of recent achievements...
"Ian Wright, the Arsenal and England striker, told waiting photographers as he walked into No 10: 'I come here all the time. I have not got time to stop.'
"...Mr Blair was still at a previous meeting as guests began to arrive but his wife Cherie spent 20 to 30 minutes chatting to them...
"Lennox Lewis left with Ian Wright, who said: "Downing Street is just like the Tardis. It';s just a door but once inside it goes on forever. It was very good, very nice."

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From the Sunday Telegraph, October 19, 1997:

"Tony Blair has been accused of using Britain's first national election based on proportional representation to ensure "New Labour clones" are elected to the European Parliament.
"A leaked document shows that labour is planning a "closed list" system for the Euro-elections in 1999 in which the electorate will not vote for individuals but for a centrally-approved regional list drawn up by different parties... "...Ken Coates, the left-wing MEP for North Nottinghamshire and Chesterfield said: "We will end up with a bunch of New Labour Clones. The MEPs elected under the system will not be accountable to their constituents but to Peter Mandelson - this will be nothing but a recipe for creeping."
"...The leaked minute, marked "strictly confidential" but passed to the Sunday Telegraph, details recent discussions between Michael Tappin, the Secretary of the MEPs, David Garner and Peter Coleman - both senior party officials...."

From The Observer, October 19, 1997:

"Tony Blair is to sideline "outdated" British pageantry at state occasions. The new policy will be launched this week with an audio-visual "spectacular" when the Queen opens the Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh.
"...The Prime Minister officially declares the customary trappings of British ceremony to be outdated in this week's edition of Time magazine, published tomorrow..."

From the Sunday Telegraph, October 19, 1997:

Oldest golliwog shares a home with Tony Blair

Downing Street is distancing Mr Blair from the golliwog

"Downing Street was drawn into a controversy last week unforeseen by Labour image-makers: the news that the Prime Minister is custodian of the the world's oldest golliwog.
"The black tufty-headed doll, dressed in a wing collar and red bowtie, is stored in a glass case at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence in Buckinghamshire.
"....Downing Street swiftly distanced Mr Blair from the golliwog in his house. A spokesman said: "Chequers does not belong to the Government. It belongs to the trustees. The golliwog is a matter for them - not for the Prime Minister...."

From The Observer, October 19, 1997

"A warning that taxes would have to soar by up to £20 billion if Britain joined the single European currency prompted the government to rule out early membership, the Observer has learned...
"... The decision was made last Thursday night when Mr Brown and Mr Blair met privately in the Prime Minister's Downing Street study to discuss the findings of a five-month Treasury review into the implications of currency union. They are understood to have met privately at least three times in the past week...
"...The new Blair-Brown line is intended to calm turbulence in the markets caused by rumours over the Government's intentions, and to end rumours of a growing rift between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Mr Brown is said to have remarked that he sees himself as the "Prime Minister" in an administration headed by "President" Blair.
"Relations between Mr Blair and Mr Brown are said to have been strained recently by a row over welfare reform which has pitched Social Security Secretary Harriet Harman into conflict with her senior Minister, Frank Field. The Prime Minister is said to be inclined to back Mr Field's ambitious plans for stimulating the growth of private pensions, while Mr Brown has baulked at the cost..."

****This item retrieved late - therefore not chronological - later news below*****

From Russia Today:

"British Prime Minister Tony Blair brushed off Russian security concerns on Monday and plunged into crowds of travellers on Moscow's ornate but packed "metro" underground railway.
"Russia's ever-attentive FSB domestic security service had planned to clear a carriage to allow Blair to travel two stops under the streets of Moscow and to inspect a cultural project involving displays of British and Russian poems in the trains.
"But Blair, seeing ordinary Muscovites had been herded off the platform, turned to his aides and asked: "Where did the people go?"
"He then headed back to another platform to talk to astonished travelers held behind barriers and shake hands.
"At one point, Blair wheeled round to try to help a group of squealing schoolgirls he thought had been trapped in the crush. It turned out they were caught up in the excitement of seeing Britain's youthful leader rather than stuck in the crowd.
"He then got on to a train, creating chaotic scenes as reporters battled to get into the same uncleared carriage.
"An astonished 21-year-old Irina Silina looked up to find she was sitting next to the British prime minister.
"Blair began chatting to Silina who told him, in English, that she had been to a language school in Britain a year ago and was now studying English at Moscow University.
"As the train rattled through the tunnel from Revolution Square to Smolenskaya station, Blair chatted to Silina, who quizzed him about his feelings on his first visit to Moscow.
""I think it's fantastic, a beautiful city," Blair told her.
"The prime minister had earlier skipped a walkabout on Red Square because of driving autumnal rain and instead concentrated on touring a nearby shopping center with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who is widely regarded as a possible contender in Russia's next presidential election in 2000.
"The Manezh shopping complex, built with British help and including some British store branches, is close to Red Square and the walls of the Kremlin.
"It is one of Luzhkov's favorite projects in a city he has helped to transform in the years since Soviet rule ended in 1991 and the country embarked on its market reform course.

From The Times October 17:
"Star-studded commercials promoting teaching as a career will appear on cinema screens for the first time today. The advertisements, which feature Tony Blair and other leading figures are the key element of the Teacher Training Agency's new recruitment strategy ... "

From The Sunday Telegraph October12:
"The Prime Minister's trip to Moscow last week where he signed a joint accord on fighting organised crime with president Yeltsin, was a tremendous public relations success. Behind the scenes, however, there were problems. For I learn that one of the businessmen he met in Moscow, the Chechen-born tycoon Umar Dzhbrailov, is one of the city's most controversial figures. So controversial, in fact, thart the US State Department recently moved to revoke his alien's visa to enter America, fearing he might indulge in "unlawful activity"....
"It is the death of Dzhbrailov's former business partner, Paul Tatum that makes his meeting with Mr Blair so unusual. The men were partners in a hotel venture until he [Tatum]was shot dead on November 3, 1996. On November 22, after President Clinton demanded that Tatum's killer be brought to justice, Dzhbrailov's visa was withdrawn (the crime remains unsolved) ..."

From The Observer (October 5):
"Tony Blair is to appear on Russia's longest-running and most popular soap opera tomorrow when he arrives in Moscow for a brief visit to meet President Boris Yeltsin
"Mr Blair will appear on Dom 7 Podjezd 4 (House 7 Entrance 4) a soap opera broadcast on Radio Russia and 53 other stations to three million listeners...
"...Downing Street officials were trying to keep details of the soap opera under wraps, claiming the Prime Minister was still working on his script...."

An Extract from house 7, Entrance 4,

Policeman: I think you and me had better go down the station ...
Prime Minister: Are you all right? Can I help you?
Varya: No, no don't trouble yourself. I'll pick them up myself.
Policeman: Right you can sort this out on your own.
Interpreter: Do you speak English?
Varya: No, of course not.
Prime Minister: Have you picked up all your apples?
Interpreter translates
Varya: Mr Blair? Very nice to meet you. And I am Varya Vasilevna. Take some of my apples. They're very good. No chemicals in them, straight from our orchard in Yelets.
Prime Minister: From another city? But aren't there any apples in Moscow?
Varya: Of course there are. We have everything here. It's just a bit expensive.

From The Economist (October 4):
" ... "He could announce the slaughter of the first-born and still get a standing ovation," said one observer as Tony Blair, the prime minister, rose on September 30th to address Labour's first post-election conference. Mr Blair's speech was designed to sound tough. He used the term "hard choices" eight times, though specifying none of them, and the word "socialism" not at all. His preachy style - "make this the giving age" - grates on some commentators, but not, it seems, on the British public nor on his party. Here was a consummate politician at work, in a speech delivered with verve and conviction, and his audience greeted it with enthusiasm, if not with rapture ...."

From The Guardian (Saturday October 4):
"Tony Blair intends to steal the limelight on the first day of the Conservative conference next week by agreeing to a high profile deal in Downing Street with Bill Gates ...

" ....It will include free internet connections, heavily subsidised telephone bills [in schools] and an intensive programme of teacher training

"Mr Gates, is understood to have agreed to oversee the scheme...He will visit Mr Blair on Tuesday on his way to launch a Microsoft bequest for technological development at Cambridge University

"It was not clear last night whether Mr Gates would offer cash contributions to supplement investment by Government ...

"However his presence in Downing Street will enable Mr Blair to present himself as the man of action ...

"Mr Blair will meet Mr Gates on Tuesday to agree the final terms of the deal, followed by a series of parallel announcements from the telecommunications regulator, Oftel, and from the Department for Education and Employment ..."

From Richard Littlejohn's Column, Daily Mail (Thursday, October 2):

[Quoting Tony Blair]"We cannot be a beacon to the world unless the talents of all the people shine through
"Not one black High Court Judge; not one black chief constable or permanent secretary. Not one black Army officer above the rank of colonel. Not one Asian either. Not a record of pride"
[to which Littlejohn adds]"Then why no black or Asian member of the new Labour cabinet? I blame the Tories."

From Francis Wheen's column in The Guardian September 3, 1997
"... Mr Justice Keene, a High Court judge, granted an injunction banning the Mail on Sunday from exposing waste and incompetence in the security service.
"This is the same Mr Justice Keene who rented his French chateau to Tony Blair and Cherie Booth only two weeks ago. At the time of the holiday, I thought it slightly unseemly that a senior member of the judiciary should advertise his fondness for the PM so openly. Now that he is helping the government to gag the press, it is less seemly than ever. I am not suggesting that Keene is anything other than a wholly independent and incorruptible arbiter; but in view of his long friendship with Blair, mightn't he have excused himself from the case?"

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