Broken Vows: Tony Blair The Tragedy of Power

by Tom Bower

Blair’s aspirations inevitably courted controversy. David Bell, the chief inspector of schools, had warned about the danger of segregating white and immigrant communities. Roman Catholic institutions had become ‘white citadels’, while Muslim schools were hindering integration. Traditional Islamic education, Bell told Blair, espoused intolerance and illiberalism, while it encouraged misogyny by subordinating women. Ghettoisation in faith schools, he explained, would fail to equip Muslim children for life in Britain.

From admiration to admonition within a decade, Guthrie’s disillusion reflected the public’s anger. Blair’s other-worldliness was noticed by senior Guardian journalists during a lunch in Downing Street. ‘I was right to have gone to war in Iraq,’ said Blair defiantly. ‘But what if you’re proved wrong?’ a journalist asked. ‘I am right,’ Blair replied, and looking upwards continued, ‘but someone else will be my judge.’

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After a week in Jerusalem, Blair flew to meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Like all the Gulf state rulers, Zayed al-Nahyan was flattered by the visit and grateful for Britain’s contribution to Saddam’s removal. The two men were not strangers. During his last months in Downing Street, Blair had cultivated their relationship and had bought the lease for his headquarters in Grosvenor Square from the sheikh’s company. The crown prince was also intrigued. During his decade as prime minister, Blair had ignored the Gulf states. New Labour had sponsored few trade missions to the region and had allowed historic military relationships to wither. As a result, French and German arms manufacturers had encroached into Britain’s traditional territory. Blair was not visiting the country to rectify that; ostensibly, he was there to encourage Abu Dhabi to invest in the Palestinian economy and offer himself as an intermediary with Israel. However, both initiatives were misplaced. Firstly, the Palestinians rejected any interference by the Gulf states; and, secondly, Israel’s relations with Abu Dhabi and most other Arab states were excellent. In Glilot, the Tel Aviv headquarters of Mossad, the office of the secret service’s director was decorated with jewelled swords that had been presented by visiting Arab intelligence chiefs. Blair’s offer to act as a messenger was superfluous.

Denial also covered his relationship with Qatar, a gas-rich state further up the Gulf coast that was a bitter enemy of Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates. The corrupt dictatorship there supported extremist Muslim groups, suppressed freedom of the press (despite owning the Al Jazeera TV network) and was offering bribes to win the right to host FIFA’s football World Cup in 2022. The