The Blair book

A few titbits from “A Journey” that you may not have read.

Since the publication of extracts from Tony Blair’s A Journey on the book’s website last night, a number have been reproduced in the media, mainly as “world exclusives”.

We have confirmation of the now 15-year-old story that Blair and Gordon Brown largely did not get on in government, and some more substantial sections on Iraq — see Mehdi Hasan’s forensic overnight blog — and Northern Ireland. They are all over the place. So I thought I’d reproduce a few bits — in no order — that you may not yet have seen from the wider book.

David Miliband went to see TB in May 2007 to ask whether he should run against GB for the Labour leadership and post of prime minister. DM was uncertain, more so than Blair, that he could win. “I think you might win, not obviously but very possibly,” TB told DM. He writes: “Played correctly, it would put full square the choice of New Labour or not.” Is that the choice between the Miliband brothers today?
Blair accuses Brown of having “tied up” the support of “Murdoch and Dacre” in 2007.
Blair exonerates Ed Miliband and Ed Miliband alone among the GB circle when it comes to plotting against TB.
He accuses Ed Balls of being the Brownite plotter-in-chief.
Blair thought John Prescott’s punch in 2001 against a countryside protester was “extraordinarily funny. The egg was funny. The mullet was funny. The left hook was funny. The expression on both their faces was funny.”
Blair calls Alastair Campbell a “genius”.
He says he talked to Campbell about what to say on Diana’s death, but stops short of attributing the phrase “people’s Princess” to him.
He heaps praise on Douglas Alexander and laments that Brown sucked him into his circle of insiders.
Blair admits he “deeply regretted” Peter Mandelson’s second resignation, but denies that Campbell pushed him into it, saying “it was my decision”.
He says the 11 September 2001 atrocities were carried out by “fanatics” who were not representative of Islam, and says that, had he known that ten years later the UK would still be in a war in Afghanistan, he would have been “profoundly alarmed”.
Blair grabbed his friend Charlie Falconer by the lapels over allowing media editors to queue with “ordinary members of the public” on the Tube for the Dome. “‘What? What? What the hell are the media doing there? You didn’t, no, please, please, dear God, please tell me you didn’t have the media coming here by Tube from Stratford, just like ordinary members of the public.’ ‘Well, we thought it would be more democratic that way.’ ‘Democratic? What fool thought that? They’re the media, for Christ’s sake. They write about the people. They don’t want to be treated like them.’ ‘Well what did you want us to do,’ Charlie said, feeling he should be fighting his corner a little, ‘get them all a stretch limo?’ ‘Yes, Charlie,’ I thundered, ‘with a boy or girl of their choice and as much champagne as they can drink; or at least have got them riding in the Tube with us.’ I am ashamed to say I then shouted and bawled at him for a bit longer, while the more sensible of our party tried to find out what to do.”