It has been Tony Blair’s unhappiest week since he stepped down as prime minister more than four years ago. When Ed Miliband raised his name during his Labour Party conference speech on Tuesday, it was greeted by boos in the hall – while Miliband himself, at times, seemed to come close to disowning the legacy of the man who secured Labour three consecutive election victories.
And then came the bombshell, disclosed in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, that Mr Blair’s prized role as Middle East peace envoy is under severe threat because members of the Palestinian Authority are threatening to sever relations with him.
Such a move would be a crushing blow to the former prime minister. For Mr Blair has only been able to maintain a role as a statesman – and plentiful access to current world leaders – thanks to his job as representative for the Quartet on the Middle East, charged with securing peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
There were many who saw this work as essential to the salvation of Mr Blair’s reputation, so badly damaged by the Iraq invasion and its hideous aftermath. The immediate spur for the move to ditch Mr Blair comes from the belief of many senior Palestinians that he has sided openly with the Israelis over the bid by President Mahmoud Abbas for Palestinian statehood.
But discontent has been simmering for many months. Last July, producer James Brabazon and I spent two weeks in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza investigating Mr Blair’s performance as envoy for a Channel Four Dispatches programme, The Wonderful World of Tony Blair, which was screened this week. We spoke to scores of Palestinians, ranging from street shopkeepers to senior politicians and businessmen, many of whom had had personal dealings with Mr Blair. Most of those we spoke to were moderates, wholly committed to the cause of peace, and reconciled to the long-term existence of Israel. » | Peter Oborne | Additional reporting by Sasha Joelli Achilli | Friday, September 30, 2011
