Tony Blair Archive from December 1997
From Doug Camilli's column in the Montreal Gazette, 31 December 1997:
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair, meanwhile, slipped his family away for a quiet Christmas in the Seychelles. But they couldn't escape the howling wolverines of the British press, who soon unearthed the meaningless but mildly titillating fact that the plantation where the Blairs stayed was once used, 20-some years ago, as the setting for a famous soft-porn movie called Emmanuelle. Big headlines all around. (Boy, you can sure tell a slow news week, can't you? But I digress.)"
From an article entitled 'Honeymoon is over for Britain's Blair' by William D. Montalbano of The Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1997:
"LONDON - Politics mingled with holiday cheer at a London literary agent's party for her writers. Said the essayist to the novelist: 'All my friends and I find we are going off Labor.'
"The novelist replied: 'The old saying is that, `With Labor, it always ends in tears.' I'm afraid it might be true again.'
"Suddenly, meteoric Tony Blair, Europe's favorite politician and Bill Clinton's best British buddy, is losing some of the bedrock supporters and crossover voters who helped him overturn an 18-year Conservative dynasty of Margaret Thatcher and her successors.
"A quick succession of controversies has cast a cloud over the prime minister for the first time since he stormed to office last spring. With disillusion in the air, the honeymoon is ending for 'Call Me Tony' Blair.
"Tight-money policies, hard-edged social reforms and decisions reaching deep into British life have provoked a backlash from his own party and public dismay from protesters as diverse as farmers, butchers, students, consumers, welfare recipients and genteel country people..."
From Peter Preston's column in The Guardian, December 29, 1997:
"... Nor am I surprised, or in the least distressed, that the Words of Blair on welfare revolution are sown in the Mail or the Gardens of Rupert. That's politics as usual: but it [is] also the benificent loosening of a tie which (on the Guardian side of the canyon) was often a terrible bind. So we're 'not a friend': even, Lord save us, 'an enemy'. Fine. The Government can get on with doing what it wants. The Guardian can get on with saying what it thinks ...."
From The Sunday Telegraph, December 28, 1997:
"... During the election campaign, Mr Blair showed himself capable of cut-throat cynicism. He lied about Tory pension plans. He wrapped himself in the flag and postured as a Eurosceptic. 'We won't spend £60 million on a new royal yacht while patients are lying on trolleys in hospital corridors,' he told a crowd in Edinburgh. Then, turning to the journalist Robert Harris he said of this ridiculous pledge: 'I always use it. It's been well worth £60 million.' ..."
From The Sunday Telegraph, December 28, 1997:
"Tony Blair is ready to adopt a tough stance in negotiations with Brussels if Britain's European partners try to force through new laws on workers' rights, which he fears would damage British business ..."
From The Guardian, December 27, 1997:
"Tony Blair is heading for an explosive row over the Labour Party's determination to remove unreliable or elderly Euro MPs from the approved list of candidates for the 1999 European elections and replace them with dynamic young experts in the Blairite mould..."
From MSN News, 26 December, 1997:
"The Prime Minister has rejected suggestions his government has been over-lavish in its spending on entertainment and that he has held too many Downing Street receptions.
"In an interview to be broadcast on the BBC2 Newsnight programme he was pressed about £7.4 million spent on entertainment since Labour took office.
"Mr Blair said he did not know what the true figure was and what percentage of that was money spent on official receptions.
"'It is not just the rich and famous who are coming to receptions at Downing Street. There are people from all walks of life who are coming there.
"'I think government hospitality is probably less under this government than it is under most governments.This idea that the only people coming into Downing Street are the wealthy and famous is absolute and utter rubbish.'
" ...He was asked if he was not bothered by the fact that as Labour rebels were preparing to vote against the Government over lone parent benefits he was 'glad-handing' with the likes of DJ Chris Evans.
"Mr Blair replied: 'There were a lot of other people at the reception too, but the answer to your question is 'No, it didn’t.'..."
From The Daily Telegraph, December 24, 1997:
"A new company run by one of Tony Blair's closest advertising advisers and two leading Clinton aides who helped Labour in the run-up to the general election has won a prestigious polling contract for the Foreign Office...
"... The company is a research agency founded by Philip Gould, a prominent ally of Peter Mandelson, the minister without portfolio, who played an important role at Labour's Millbank election campaign headquarters ..."
From The Guardian, December 24, 1997:
"In a series of television interviews, which followed articles in key Consevative newspapers, Mr Blair insisted: 'I didn't come into politics to harm people who are genuinely disabled or in need ...'"
From The Independent, December 22, 1997:
"Tony Blair is facing a serious split in his Cabinet as he takes personal charge of the benefit reform programme. A group including some of the Government's biggest hitters is opposed to large-scale cuts in disability benefit...
"...A powerful faction in the Cabinet, including John Prescott, Robin Cook, David Blunkett, Frank Dobson and Clare Short, are thought to be ready to take on the Prime Minister ..."
From The Sunday Telegraph, 21 Decmber 1997:
"Tim Allan, Tony Blair's youthful press officer, may soon be slung out of his club, Soho House, a rather louche establishment in the West End. His crime: circulating a private remark made by fellow member Matt Welsh, the editor of the BBC's The World This Weekend. Welsh allegedly told Allan ... that the Beeb, and not the Tory Party, was Labour's real opposition. Allan promptly told his boss, the PM's Press Secretary, Alastair Campbell ..."
From The Observer, 21 December 1997:
"Tony Blair has called a special crisis meeting of the Cabinet to discuss welfare reform amid a growing revolt led by Education Secretary David Blunkett against Treasury plans to cut benefits for the disabled ...
"...Mr Blunkett has privately warned Chancellor Gordon Brown not to seek direct cuts in disability benefits, because he fears this will discredit the Government's promise to bring the socially excluded back into society..."
From The Scotsman, 20 December 1997:
"The tough tactics of Tony Blair's Government press machine are increasingly angering European journalists as Britain prepares to take over the Presidency of the European Union.
"Tension is growing at the treatment handed out to inquisitive hacks from across Europe, and the blame is being laid at the door of Mr Blair's chief spin doctors Alastair Campbell and Charlie Whelan.
"European journalists also complain of being treated with contempt by Foreign Office spokesmen who are only interested in peddling a line to the British media...
" ...Criticism has focused on the style of Mr Campbell, the Prime Minister's official spokesman.
"The one-time journalist appears to regard trips to EU summits as excursions into hostile territory. Routine questions from foreign journalists are aggressively shot down or else he pretends he doesn't understand the question.
"Foreign journalists who expect government spokesmen to give a neutral account of events, have been shocked by Mr Campbell's campaigning tactics during briefings. His policy has been to present the outcome of every European negotiations as a great victory for his political master, even when the facts dictate otherwise..."
From The Guardian, December 18, 1997:
"Tony Blair yesterday sent Labour MPs home for Christmas with a blunt warning that they can expect far tougher demands for discipline and unity before the next election than they did during last week's revolt over lone parent benefits ...
"... Mr Blair - like all his predecessors - urged MPs not to tell the media about PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party] debates, though his own speech was officially distributed.
"Of the 15 MPs who spoke briefly, nine expressed concern about the need for dialogue, 'toughness, but not stubborness', as one put it."
From The Scotsman, 17 December, 1997:
"The devolution bill will insist that he is the First Minister; we, the people, will inevitably call him Scotland's Prime Minister.
"Does it matter? Well, it isn't exactly something to go to war over, but the status of the leader of the first government in our first parliament in three hundred years is not unimportant...
" ... all members of Her Majesty's Government are in theory equal. The PM is only the first among them. Mind you, Margaret Thatcher stretched that convention to its utmost, and Tony Blair has evidently decided to govern independently of his Cabinet of co-equals.
"L'état c'est moi - I am the state - is more Tony Blair's style, he's not interested in being inter pares with anyone... "
From The Financial Times, December 15, 1997:
"The threat by Formula One to relocate its motor racing activities outside Europe in the event of an early EU tobacco sponsorship ban was an empty one, according to academics who have spent 18 months investigating the industry.
"FI promoters told the government in October that a ban on tobacco sponsorship would put up to 50,000 UK motor sport industry jobs at risk.
"But the research team found that the integration of engineering and other specialist knowledge within "Motor Sport Valley", a 100 mile crescent across southern England, cannot be recreated elsewhere in an acceptable timeframe and F1 managements are well aware of this..."
The Independent's front page headline, December 15, 1997:
"Blair is on a mission. Driven by Thatcherite zeal. And the sick and disabled are next on the list."
From Michael Winner's column in The News of The World, December 14, 1997:
"I was walking down Empress Avenue, North East London a couple of weeks before the election. I said to Tony Blair, who happened to be with me, 'Aren't you worried when you get in, the extreme left will make governing very difficult?'
"'I don't think that will be a problem, Michael,' he replied. 'I think we'll have other problems, but not that.' ..."
From The Sunday Telegraph interview with Geoffrey Robinson, December 14, 1997:
" ... Q. Have you discussed this with the PM?
"A. Yes, he can't find anything wrong with what I've done. The other charge is of hypocrisy. But how is it hypocrisy? I told Gordon before the election that it was an offshore family trust. I told him that if he wanted me in the Treasury I would support the policy on off-shore funds ..."
From The Daily Telegraph, Decmber 13, 1997:
"The Prime Minister has ordered his Cabinet to make a better job of selling key policies to the public after the backlash over the decision to scrap Tessas and Peps.
"Tony Blair is known to be irritated by the public reaction to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), intended to replace the two tax-free accounts..."
From The Independent, December 13, 1997:
"Labour has declared war on BBC Radio's Today programme, threatening to suspend co-operation in retaliation for 'the John Humphrys problem'. Anthony Bevins and Louise Jury observe some brutal arm-twisting.
"Requests for ministers to appear on Today could be denied by the party if John Humphrys persists in interrupting them and denying them the opportunity to put their views to the listeners, David Hill, director of communications, said in an exchange of correspondence leaked to the Liberal Democrats..."
"From The Guardian, December 13, 1997:
"The Government's relationship with the BBC hit a new low last night after Labour spin doctors launched an unprecedented attack on the integrity of one of the corporation's most respected senior broadcasters.
"In one of the most blatant attempts at arm-twisting seen for 10 years, David Hill, the party's chief media spokesman, threatened to sever relations with radio 4's Today programme over an interview between John Humphrys and Harriet Harman...
"...The attempt to bully the BBC into a less combative approach to ministers came only seven months after the Labour election victory and was last night threatening to descend into a public relations disaster.
"Commentators pointed out that not only did it reignite the issue of the lone parent cuts but it also appeared that Mr Hill, a party employeee, was trying to control access to ministers..."
"From The Times, December 13, 1997:
"... Did the MP [Geoffrey Robinson], perhaps over a glass or two of Vernaccia, the fruity local white wine, ever tell Mr Blair the story of how he managed, perfectly legally, to minimise the tax bill for his property in Italy.
"According to local public records Mr Robinson bought the estate - a former farm - in July 1992 for £250,000. Estate agents in the area put the estate's current market value at £3 million. It is registered in nearby Siena in the name of a company called Castelli Mucchio Villa di Robinson Geoffrey and Co, owned by Mr Robinson and his daughter Veronique, who was 22 at the time of the deal. Lawyers say it is common practice in Italy for individuals to set up companies to buy property, since companies pay a lower rate of property tax ..."
From The Daily Telegraph, December 11, 1997:
"The Government has spent more money on receptions and official hospitality than it will save over the coming year from last night's vote to cut benefit to single mothers, according to Whitehall figures...
"... The most high profile events have been six Downing Street receptions for celebrities from the world of sport, the arts, and design. Tony Blair was hosting just such a reception last night, only hours before he forced his reluctant MPs to vote for the benefit cut..."
From The Guardian, December 11, 1997:
"Tony Blair's honeymoon with his own party ended dramatically last night when 47 Labour MPs defied a three-line whip to stage an unexpectedly emphatic vote against the lone parent benefit cut.
"Coupled with at least 14 known abstentions and the resignation of three MPs - junior minister, Malcolm Chisholm and unpaid 'bagmen' Gordon Prentice and Mick Clapham - from their government posts to join the first backbench revolt of the Blair era it was a grim night for the Prime Minister..."
From MSN News, December 10, 1997:
" ... Alastair Campbell later slapped down claims that up to 50 backbenchers could defy the Government on Wednesday night claiming the stories had been 'hyped.'
"And he signalled there could be disciplinary action against any rebels who refused to back the Government line..."
From PA, December 10, 1997 3:58 AM GMT
"Stars Gather At No 10
"Tony Blair will tonight host another of his celebrity receptions in Downing Street.
"The guest list includes DJ Chris Evans, the new owner of Virgin Radio, and his Radio 1 breakfast time rival DJ Zoe Ball.
"Inspector Morse stars John Thaw and Kevin Whately are expected to join them at the Prime Minister's reception.
"Coronation Street star Liz Dawn, who plays Vera Duckworth, is also reported to be one of the stars invited.
"Mr Blair has hosted a series of receptions for figures from the arts and showbusiness since his election triumph.
"His decision to invite Noel Gallagher of Oasis to one gathering prompted criticism from some Tories because of the pop star's controversial views on drugs."
From The Times, December 9, 1997:
"...Writing in The Times today Peter Lilley, the Shadow Chancellor, says that Mr Blair was supporting Mr Robinson's right to tax relief in offshore havens, something Mr Brown said Labour would not countenance. Mr Robinson's position may be 'unassailable' because of Mr Blair's support but it remains hypocritical, Mr Lilley writes.
"But Mr Blair told Channel 4 News that it was not 'remotely clear' that Mr Robinson had avoided tax in Britain ..."
From Tony Blair's article in The Independent, December 8, 1997:
"New Labour was created so that we became the party of all the people; so that we could win power with the purpose of rebuilding Britain as one nation and giving everyone a stake in society ..."
From The Independent, December 8, 1997:
"... But the Prime Minister may be feeling uncomfortable after MPs' declarations that they intend defying the party leaders over lone parents. Attempts by party whips to persuade them to change their minds will doubtless be continuing ...
"The rebels have been told they could be deselected, removed from Commons committees, or refused time away from the House, if they do not comply. One whip even suggested his own job was on the line if he was unsuccesful ...
" ...Harry Barnes, Labour MP for Derbyshire North West, was threatened with losing his place on the Northern Ireland Select Committee. Whips told him to prolong a trip to the province until the vote was over ...
"Alan Simpson, the Nottinghamshire South MP, was also told to stay away. If he did not, a trip to help South African children would be in jeopardy ..."
From The Observer, December 7, 1997:
"Chancellor Gordon Brown wants to end artificial financial transactions like these, whose sole objective is tax avoidance, and, arguably, evasion. Yet both he and the Prime Minister have been compromised by the Paymaster General - not least in that both have enjoyed the pleasures of tax avoidance in Mr Robinson's Italian and French properties.
"Mr Robinson's actions shame himself, his Government and the principles on which his party and democratic governance stand. Better can be expected of those who hold public office in a democracy."
From The Observer, December 7, 1997:
"Tony Blair has only 'borrowed' the Labour Party quipped Peter Hennessy the other day in an elegant lecture on the new Government. So said the Tory old guard about Margaret Thatcher, only to find that she would not give it back..."
From The Sunday Times, December 7, 1997:
"Government whips are struggling to prevent the first resignations from Tony Blair's government, after threats that left-wing ministerial aides will quit this week rather than support Harriet Harman's cuts to lone parents' benefits in Wednesday's crunch Commons vote ..."
From The Times, December 6, 1997:
"Ray Mallon always knew his own profession hated the idea that any policeman should be feted by politicians and followed by television cameras...
"...During the election campaign, Tony Blair insisted on being photographed with the detective who was the self-declared advocate of 'zero-tolerance' ...
"In the general election, politicians beat a path to Mr Mallon's door. Tony Blair brought along Helen Mirren, star of TV's Prime Suspect for an election photocall with Mr Mallon. Michael Howard said he was his 'kind of cop'..."
From Matthew Parris' column in The Sun, December 6, 1997:
"...Instead of pretending that a Conservative Government would be playing things diffrently, why not congratulate Tony Blair for doing exactly what a Conservative Government would have done ?
"...The sooner the Tories wake up to the fact that Tony Blair is not a socialist, the sooner they can face up to him properly ..."
From The Independent, December 5, 1997:
"Ms Booth [Cherie Blair's sister] also described the arrival of Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, as 'the Versace revolution'.
"'To witness a historic moment can have peculiar repercussions. That moment for me was realised as I watched my charming, Marmite sandwich-making brother-in-law change before my eyes at his Segefield constituency count into 'our leader'.'
"Ms Booth said Mr Blair was 'warmer than Pitt the younger, more flamboyant than Disraeli, and more youthful than Lloyd George...'"
From The Daily Telegraph, December 5, 1997:
"Travel payments paid to 1.6 million disabled people are being targeted by social security ministers as the first victim of Tony Blair's promised comprehensive review of welfare payments..."
From USA Today, December 4, 1997:
"On his first visit to a capital that has long held his attention as a historian, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., found Wednesday that few Britons recognize him, Big Ben makes his eyes pop wide and Question Time at the House of Commons makes U.S. congressional proceedings seem tame.
"'Every American should make this trip," Gingrich said. "They'll never be the same.'
"As he walked at a quick pace to Parliament, Gingrich, 54, expounded on British history and American democracy. 'Everything here,' he said, 'from the Magna Carta to (Winston Churchill's) War Rooms, are constant reminders of the historical roots of our freedom.'
"Better that than reminders of Gingrich's stateside woes. He is still trying to repair his image after ethics violations. He was reprimanded and fined $300,000 in January for using tax-deductible contributions to promote partisan goals through a college course he taught.
"The speaker brushed off speculation of a presidential run in 2000. 'That's a long way off,' he said. Ever the ex-professor, he steered conversation toward the topic of conservatives like former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and former president Ronald Reagan, and the legacy they left for liberals like Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Blair 'has done an important job redirecting his party (but) in the end, he stands in the framework of Margaret Thatcher,' he said, 'and we all stand on the shoulders of Reagan and Thatcher.'
"Gingrich said the United States and Britain are moving 'in the same direction, with more privatization, deregulation and a commitment to balance the budget.' Gingrich said he hopes to discuss with President Clinton next week 'what we can learn from what's happening here.'
"Certainly not much from Question Time. Once a week for 30 minutes, Blair must face shouted questions from members of parliament. No one gets very far without hissing and grumbling from the gallery.
"Not even Gingrich's counterpart, the speaker. At one particularly raucous point, Betty Boothroyd broke her silence and bellowed, 'Order in this house, some order!' After a second of silence, everyone started braying. A smile crossed Gingrich's face.
From The Times, December 4, 1997:
"Tony Blair announced a halt to the building of gas-fired power stations yesterday in a move to ease the crisis in the coal industry and contain a growing backbench revolt...
"In a surprising U-turn, the Prime Minister said he had decided to act because he was determined to preserve the coal industry...
"... Gas accounted for only 2 per cent of power generation in 1992, but by last year this had increased to more than 30 per cent. Labour has approved four new gas-fired power stations since the election.
"Yesterday's change of heart was put together by senior ministers over the previous 24 hours to avoid an embarrassing confrontation with the miners and backbenchers. Peter Mandelson, the Minister without Portfolio, called in Jonathan Powell, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, last week to draw up a rescue plan after a tense Commons debate on coal."
From The Scotsman, Decmber 4, 1997:
"For someone who was born in Scotland, Tony Blair's occasional excursions into matters Scottish are surprisingly painful.
Remember when he wasn't sure whether the Claim of Right was something he would sign, or indeed what it was in the first place?
Or how about the time he dismissed Scottish journalists as "unreconstructed w*****s" after they quizzed him repeatedly on devolution?
And who could forget his ill-judged comparison of the Scottish Parliament to an English parish council?
"You would have thought he would have learned his lesson but yesterday the Prime Minister strayed into the most dangerous territory of all - he slagged off Scottish football.
"His own goal, over plans for new homework clubs at English football grounds, was a classic, coming as the scheme was launched south of the Border yesterday with the help of the Brazilian superstar, Pele.
"Children get to do their homework at the home of their favourite team. It involves three Premiership football clubs - Leeds United, Newcastle United and Sheffield Wednesday.
"But what about the Scots? Wouldn't young Scots kids love to take part in a similar scheme at Parkhead, Ibrox or even Firhill?
"Of course they would, and at Prime Minister's Questions the Aberdeen South MP, Anne Begg, set Mr Blair up with a perfect pass asking for the scheme to be extended northwards. But the man who famously played keepy-up with Kevin Keegan fluffed his big chance.
"'The circumstances in Scotland are obviously different because there are fewer big football clubs,' he replied.
"As Jimmy Hill found out to his cost, such remarks go down like a lead balloon and Scots MPs, outraged at such an unfounded slur, audibly groaned...
From Jimmy Reid's column in the Glasgow Herald, December 3, 1997:
"... The trouble is that Blair sees himself as a man of destiny. And men of destiny tend to consider themselves above the constraints of office that apply to mere mortals. It's called Caligulitis. He appeared at a time when Labour hacks were malleable. Excluded for so long from power and the tantalising fleshpots of power they would sell their souls to get a little turn themselves. When a few like myself suggested that power was not an end in itself but a means to a better life for the many that would correct the injustices of the Thatcher years, I was told, haud yer wheest, we'll come to that when we have power.
"As soon as Blair was in Downing Street he started campaigning for the next election. Appearance was everything. The grind of photo opportunities and media management continued, unabated. Trotsky believed in permanent revolution. Blair believes in permanent electioneering.
"He aims to kill off the Conservative Party by making it redundant. The Tory opposition can only protest forlornly that New Labour is carrying out Tory policies ..."
From Reuters, December 2, 1997:
"UK's Blair gets cartoon role as demonic bionic man.
"With demonic eyes and a smile that can kill, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been reborn as the bionic superhero of a wry cartoon strip.
"The British cult science fiction magazine 2000 AD has transformed the Labour leader -- who was elected in May on a wave of euphoria after drilling his often ragged party into a well oiled political machine -- into a slightly crazed world beater with the strength of 50 men.
"Re-christened B.L.A.I.R. 1, he elbows an opposition MP in the mouth and uses his trademark radiant grin to fell former Conservative politician turned racy novelist Edwina Currie.
"He then solves the problem of unemployed single parents by putting them to work in disused coal mines.
"'We wanted to do an update of the Bionic Man and Blair seemed perfect now that the official honeymoon period is over,' said David Bishop, editor of 2000 AD.
"'He has that grin and 'Bambi quality' that makes you want to have a go,' he said.
From Hugo Young's column in The Guardian, December 2, 1997:
"...What the Blair-Jenkins exercise is about is power. While Blair, it is true, would like to see public cynicism replaced by greater esteem for political leadership, particularly his own, and might see a more equitable system contributing to that, his real object is different. It is to do everything he can to secure the base of his political project for many years ahead. If the Liberal Democrats can be drawn into this purpose, so much the better. If electoral reform assists to that end, then maybe it will be worth the considerable risk of attempting to bring about ..."
From The Guardian, December 2, 1997:
"... the Government successfully defeated a Conservative motion attacking the cuts by 336 to 131.
"But the victory was marred by a boycott by nearly 90 out of the 101 Labour women backbenchers who refused to leave their Commons rooms to back Ms Harman in the chamber. It was left to what some women MPs called the 'unthinking Blairite clones' - Helen Brinton, MP for Peterborough, Margaret Hodge, MP for Barking, and Caroline Flint, MP for Don Valley, to back the benefit cuts..."