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The playwright David Hare is set to lampoon Tony Blair and his former New Labour colleagues in a new political satire. While the names may be unfamiliar, the characters in Gethsemane, which opens at the National Theatre in November are said to hold more than a passing resemblance to key figures of the Tony Blair years. The main character chief fund-raiser and former music producer 'Otto Fallon' bears some resemblance to Lord Levy while home secretary 'Meredith' is reported to have clear similarities with Tessa Jowell. Blair himself is recreated in Prime Minister 'Alex'. The play centres around a scandal...

Betrayal in diplomacy among allies is rare but happens on occasion. But betrayal on the battlefield? And by our closest ally? This is from the Times Online: A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year, The Times has learnt. Four thousand British troops - including elements of the SAS and an entire mechanised brigade - watched from the sidelines for six days because of an "accommodation" with the Iranian-backed group, according to American...

When I created the “Infamous Monsters” post back in 2004, I did promise that if Bush won, I'd give equal treatment to the other side of the aisle. And he did. And so, as promised, here we go. Now, it's not as easy as before. The loony left and antiwar moonbats and their terrorist heroes are a lot easier to pair off with famous monsters. The people on the right all seem so garshed darn normal-looking. But isn’t that the worst kind of monster of all?* Now I don my tinfoil hat, and briefly transform into a nutroot moonbat. Dracula...

JERUSALEM, May 23 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a close call Thursday when two Israeli jets threatened to shoot down his plane, officials said. Blair, now a special Middle East envoy, was en route to Bethlehem from Egypt when his private jet was spotted entering Israeli airspace. When controllers could get no response from the pilot and fearing a terrorist attack, they scrambled fighter jets to intercept the aircraft, the Times of London reported Friday. The pilot identified himself after the fighter jets got in position to fire and the interceptors peeled off and returned to...

Cherie Blair's memoirs: Why don't we watch a movie? A Brit from the Left, a Texan from the Right, but we all got on - and nobody can tell me George Bush doesn't have a sense of humour Cherie Blair Ifirst met George Bush at Camp David ... shortly after he took over as President. From our visits to Washington we had got to know Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, and his wife Tipper, reasonably well, so I think it's fair to say that our hearts sank when the result was finally ratified. Bush was, after all, a Republican. In...

The Blairs’ hearts sank when they learnt that George Bush’s victory over Al Gore in 2000 had been ratified and that he was to become President of the United States, Cherie Blair reveals in The Times today. She tells how she and her husband watched Mr Bush on television and were concerned at his poor grasp of foreign affairs, but Mr Blair was determined to have a strong relationship with the Republican President. Although they had initial reservations about his political leanings she and her husband learnt to appreciate “a very funny, charming man with a quirky sense of humour”....

A US campaign watchdog has accused presumptive Republican president nominee John McCain of violating election laws by accepting campaign contributions from two prominent Londoners. At issue is a fundraising luncheon held in March at London's Spencer House, during McCain's swing through the United Kingdom. An invitation to the event lists Lord Rothschild and Nathaniel Rothschild as hosts, and indicates the event was made possible with their "kind permission". Judicial Watch, a Washington organisation instrumental in the March release of Hillary Clinton's White House schedules, has asked US election monitors to investigate whether the Rothschilds improperly sponsored the fundraiser. US political...

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and tween idol Miley Cyrus have joined Time magazine's "100 most influential people" list alongside other world leaders, celebrities and sports stars. U.S. television talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey again featured on the fifth annual list that was published online on Thursday and hits newsstands on Friday -- the only person listed every year the list has been published. All three U.S. presidential candidates -- Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain -- were included in the 2008 list alongside Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chinese President Hu Jintao,...

PARIS -- John McCain wrapped up his five-country swing to the Middle East and Europe by meeting with two familiar faces- one old and one new. In London this morning, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and McCain had breakfast together at the swanky Mandarin Oriental hotel. A quick photo-op for reporters before the official visit quickly became a reflection of McCain's recent travels. On the friendship with Britain, McCain said, "What I've learned from our trip is that our alliance and our relationship is still strong. There are areas such as climate change, transparency of international financial institutions, Israeli-Palestinian peace...

LONDON (AFP) - US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain Friday discussed the situation in the Middle East and global warming with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the ex-premier's spokesman said. Blair met with McCain in London as well as US senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, McCain's colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee who are travelling with him, the spokesman told AFP. "They met, but also, obviously with Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham. The subjects they spoke about were the Middle East and climate change," he said. McCain, who is on a week-long tour of Europe and the...

CHIBA, Japan - China, India and other developing nations must join industrialized countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to avert a global warming disaster, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a climate change conference Saturday. An agreement to succeed the Kyoto global warming pact that expires at the end of 2012 will have to find a way to include developing nations, while allowing them to grow their economies, Blair told the meeting of 20 nations. "The dilemma is this: how to cut a deal that has both the developed and developing in it, recognizing...

LONDON (AFP) - Former British premier Tony Blair is leading a team of international environment experts backed by the United States and the United Nations and charged with securing a global climate change deal, he told The Guardian on Friday. "There is a deadlock. Everyone is agreed where we want to get to, but unless you agree on the framework for getting there, you are left with a process and not a result," Blair told the newspaper. Blair, who stepped down as prime minister last year after 10 years in power, said he thought he could prepare a framework for...

Blair to teach 'faith and globalisation' at Yale University JAMES TAPSFIELD TONY Blair is to further his interest in religion by teaching classes on "faith and globalisation" at the prestigious Yale University in an initiative linked to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, due to be launched later this year. Academics at Yale School of Management and Divinity are working with Mr Blair to finalise details of the course. A source close to the former prime minister said he was "delighted" to be taking on the new challenge. The Connecticut university's president, Richard Levin, said staff were "honoured" Mr Blair would...

LONDON - An early version of a British dossier of prewar intelligence on Iraq did not include a key claim about weapons of mass destruction that became vital to Tony Blair's case for war, the newly published document showed Monday. The 2002 document insisted Saddam Hussein's regime had acquired uranium and had equipment necessary for chemical weapons, but does not contain a claim that Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes — an allegation crucial to Blair's push to back the 2003 U.S.-led invasion — that later was discredited. Campaigners allege that the 45-minute claim was inserted...

Blair accused of 'stabbing Hillary Clinton in the back' after supporting RepublicansLast updated at 00:56am on 20th January 2008  Former allies: Bill Clinton and Tony Blair   Tony Blair was accused of betrayal last night as he waded into the American Presidential campaign to support George Bush's Republican world view. As the former PM recommended Mr Bush's policies to 400 millionaire bankers in Las Vegas, former ally Bill Clinton was campaigning in Nevada for his wife Hillary, who hopes to be the Democratic candidate for the White House and is an arch Bush critic. In a move liable to...

The decision by Tony Blair to convert to Catholicism has sparked a row over his government's policies during his term in office as prime minister of the UK. Mr Blair was welcomed into the Roman Catholic church on Friday night by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor -- leader of the Roman Catholics in England and Wales. But his conversion was criticised by commentators who said some of his views while in office were at odds with church teachings. And yesterday, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) reacted with surprise to the news of Mr Blair's...

The Vatican has welcomed Tony Blair's decision to become a Roman Catholic. A spokesman said such an "authoritative personality" choosing to join the Catholic Church "could only give rise to joy and respect". The ex-PM was received into the Church by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. It comes as research shows Catholic churchgoers now outnumber Anglicans for the first time since the Reformation in the UK. Ex-Tory minister Ann Widdecombe - herself a Catholic convert - said Mr Blair's voting record as an MP had often "gone against Church teaching".

Tony Blair joins Catholic faith Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has converted to the Catholic faith. His wife Cherie is a Catholic and there had been speculation that he would convert to Catholicism from his Anglican faith after leaving office. Mr Blair's official spokesman confirmed he had converted on Friday night and said it was a private matter. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said he was "very glad" to welcome Mr Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, into the Catholic Church. 'Nutter' fear One of Mr Blair's final official trips while prime minister was a visit to the Vatican...

Blair in Xmas Whitehouse vid FORMER Prime Minister Tony Blair appears in George Bush’s Whitehouse Christmas video – in the imagination of the President’s dogs. The Whitehouse pooches, Barney and Miss Beazley, dream of becoming Junior Park Rangers. The two little black Scottie dogs then imagine Tony Blair congratulating them on achieving their aim. Afterwards, Mr Blair turns to the camera and quips: “For someone from Edinburgh, Scotland, it’s good to see the Scots doing well.”

"TONY BLAIR has admitted that his Christianity played a “hugely important” role during his premiership but he was forced to play down his religious conviction for fear of being seen by the public as “a nutter”. In his most frank television interview about his religious beliefs, Blair confesses he would have found it difficult to do the job of prime minister had he not been able to draw on his faith." "In The Blair Years, the former prime minister, who is expected to convert to Roman Catholicism soon, compares the differing attitude to religion in British politics with that in...

Tony Blair was on the brink of announcing his conversion to Catholicism on a visit to the Pope until a last-ditch intervention by Britain's Roman Catholic leader.   Tony Blair at an audience with Pope Benedict XVI The former Prime Minister was planning to make the historic statement on a trip to the Vatican, but was persuaded not to at the 11th hour.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, advised Mr Blair that it would be unwise and inappropriate to use such a high-profile occasion for such an important private event, particularly coming just days before he was due to...

Blair unveils projects to aid Palestinian economy 'Politics will never succeed without hope of prosperity and a rise in living standards,' Quartet's special Mideast envoy Reuters JERUSALEM - Middle East envoy Tony Blair gave details on Monday of four international projects aimed at bolstering the Palestinian economy as part of efforts to end the conflict with Israel. Flanked by the Palestinian prime minister and Israeli defense minister, the former British leader said the projects, including one funded by the World Bank to improve sewerage in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, were integral to peace efforts. "It's not a substitute in any...

Ten years ago, in November 1997, 50 Swiss tourists rose early to visit the Valley of the Kings across the Nile from Luxor in Egypt. Suddenly from the hills came a group of Islamists. They shot, disembowelled and decapitated the tourists. It was just one of the many forerunners of 9/11 in 2001 in New York, 7/7 in 2005 in London or 11/M as the Spanish call the train bombings in Madrid in 2004. Today, as the killing in the name of extremist political Islamist ideology increases in tempo and intelligence agencies struggle to disarm those promised a passage to...

Editor's Notes: If a 2-state solution is in your interest, try to make it happenBy DAVID HOROVITZ Tony Blair is not widely renowned as a master of understatement. But it is with magnificent restraint that he acknowledges the price he has paid for taking sensible positions on combating terrorism, radical dictatorship and Islamic extremism. "I ended up in a situation where I was in profound disagreement with a large part of [British] public opinion on it, yeah," he notes briskly in the course of a fascinating interview. Then he adds, simply and wryly, "Which is tough." Tough indeed. In fact...

Tony Blair will convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks when he is received into the church by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, according to the Catholic magazine the Tablet.There has been speculation for months that the former prime minister would be received into the church following his resignation from office. A report by the magazine's editor, Catherine Pepinster, says the ceremony will take place during a private mass in the cardinal's official residence behind Westminster Cathedral in Victoria, London.Mr Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, was baptised as an Anglican but has been known to be interested...

Anger at Tony Blair's 'boring' £200,000 speech By Richard Spencer in Beijing Last Updated: 7:10pm GMT 08/11/2007 Tony Blair has come under fire in the Chinese media for charging nearly £200,000 for a single speech – and not a good one at that. The former prime minister spoke to businessmen and government officials in the industrial city of Dongguan, two hours' north of Hong Kong, on Tuesday evening. Reports said the speech lacked substance Local media estimates of his fee ranged from US$330,000 to US$500,000 (£160,000 to £240,000). Although the real estate firm which hired him for a “VIP banquet”...

02:40 AM 25 Cheshvan 5768, November 6, '07 Maan: Blair Blames Poor PA Economy on ‘Occupation’ (IsraelNN.com) According to the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency, Quartet Envoy Tony Blair blames the “suffocating pressure of the occupation” for the poor state of the Palestinian Authority economy. In an interview with a Maan journalist, Blair said he believes his role as envoy is to “offer people a strategy to get to a Palestinian state.” While Blair was sympathetic to complaints against the “occupation,” he refused to show sympathy for Hamas, saying the world was right to boycott the group even after it was...

Blair: Israel needs psychological shift David Horovitz , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 5, 2007 Middle East envoy Tony Blair on Sunday urged Israel to make a "psychological shift" from indifference and skepticism about the prospects of progress with the Palestinians to an active determination to "make it happen on the right terms." He said Israel, which turns 60 in May, would "absolutely" still be here in another 60 years, but that "to guarantee its long-term security I believe it needs a viable Palestinian state." If Israelis feel the same, Blair told The Jerusalem Post, then "the psychological shift that has...

At Jerusalem hotel, Blair joins intriguing guest list, including believers, spies, generals The Associated Press Thursday, November 1, 2007 JERUSALEM: Tony Blair is not the first outsider to try changing the Middle East from the elegant corridors and intrigue-steeped courtyards of one Jerusalem hotel on the line dividing Arab and Jew. For a century and a quarter before the former British prime minister set up his offices in a large suite of rooms at the American Colony this summer, the Jerusalem institution has been drawing pilgrims and spies, diplomats, generals and journalists. They have come for redemption, information, or for...

Sickness and sleepless nights – but Cherie Blair begged him to carry onTony Blair was affected twice by the problem of a pounding heart during Prime Minister’s Questions in 2004 and was unwell throughout much of that year, it was disclosed today. Blair Unbound reveals that Mr Blair regularly asked himself in 2004 whether he should stay in office. Weighed down by the Iraq war aftermath, the Hutton inquiry, a constant war of attrition with Gordon Brown, worries over his family as well as his own health, he questioned whether he would be able to command the domestic agenda or...

He went into the garden and began muttering ‘Iraq’ and ‘it’s all my fault’Tony Blair virtually regarded the result of the 2005 general election as a defeat for which he blamed himself and the Iraq war, according to a new biography. As the early results suggested a much-reduced Labour majority, Mr Blair went into the garden and started muttering “It’s all my fault” and “Iraq”, the book reveals. He accepted that it weakened his authority as Prime Minister to make the changes to the machinery of government that he wanted and to appoint the Government that he needed. And it...

Blair accuses Iran of fuelling 'deadly ideology' of militant Islam Martin Hodgson and agencies Friday October 19, 2007 Guardian Unlimited Tony Blair has accused Iran of backing and financing terrorist attacks, and warned that the threat of militant Islam is similar to that posed by fascism in the early 20th century.

Far from sabre-rattling, Tony Blair's speech about the threat of a nuclear-capable Iran was simply telling it like it is. In his first major speech since leaving Downing Street, Tony Blair this week likened Iran to the emerging threat of fascism in the 1920s and 1930s. The ideology of Islamist extremism "now has a state - Iran - that is prepared to back and finance terror in the pursuit of destabilising countries whose people wish to live in peace". David Cox identifies in this speech an encouragement of "war fervour". Mr Blair's analysis of international relations is, in truth, acute...

Islamist extremism is similar to “rising fascism in the 1920s and 1930s”, Tony Blair said last night in his first major speech since leaving office. At a prestigious charity dinner in New York, the former Prime Minister said that public figures who blamed the rise of fundamentalism on the policies of the West were "mistaken". He told the audience, which included New York governor Eliot Spitzer and mayor Michael Bloomberg, that Iran was the biggest exporter of the ideology, and that the Islamic republic was prepared to "back and finance terror" to support it. “Out there in the Middle East,...

Last update - 19:14 19/10/2007 Blair gets early backing in race to be EU's first president By Associated Press Tony Blair, the Mideast envoy for the Quartet, got early backing from the British and French leaders at the end of an EU summit on Friday to become the European Union's first-ever full-time president, a role meant to boost the EU's profile on the world stage. With an agreement on the EU governing treaty in the bag, the leaders were quick to toss Blair's hat into the ring of candidates for the prestigious post of chairing the EU.

Iran backing terror, says Blair Mr Blair warned against being 'forced into retreat' UK ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair has accused Iran of backing terrorism and warned the world faces a situation akin to "rising fascism in the 1920s".Mr Blair told a charity event in New York that Iran was prepared to destabilise peaceful countries. In his first major speech since leaving office, Mr Blair again defended the decision to go to war in Iraq. He urged continued vigilance by the United States, Britain and their allies in combating the threat of extremism. Mr Blair - now an envoy for...

Tony Blair plans launch of interfaith group By Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 1:37am BST 15/10/2007 Tony Blair is to launch an interfaith foundation early in the new year to combat religious extremism. The former prime minister has held secret meetings with a number of religious leaders to finalise plans for the international organisation. He believes it will help to ease tension between the world's major faiths and tackle common misunderstandings, particularly over Islam. Mr Blair's initiative comes as he prepares to address America's most prestigious Catholic gathering this week, renewing speculation about his own possible conversion. His...

Blair: Gordon has lost it, just like Al Gore didGordon Brown suffered a double blow last night after it became clear that Tony Blair thinks he is making a hash of running the country – and a new opinion poll shows that the voters agree. Senior Labour sources say that Mr Blair believes his successor has made the same mistake as former US Vice-President Al Gore, who lost to George Bush in the 2000 Presidential election after disowning his old boss Bill Clinton. A former Minister close to Mr Blair told The Mail on Sunday: 'When Gordon became PM, Tony...

The White House no longer views Britain as its most loyal ally in Europe since Gordon Brown took office and is instead increasingly turning towards France and Germany, according to Bush administration sources. "There's concern about Brown," a senior White House foreign policy official told The Daily Telegraph. "But this is compensated by the fact that Paris and Berlin are much less of a headache. The need to hinge everything on London as the guarantor of European security has gone." With Tony Blair departed, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is seen by many as the man George W Bush can...

Just weeks after assuming the role of Middle East envoy on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing his first serious test. The Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC) in Herzelia, Israel, considered the “public face of Israeli intelligence,” has issued a scathing report (to read the report in pdf format click here) wherein it accused Britain of being a “major source of publishing and distribution of Hamas incitement.” As Britain’s former leader, Blair ultimately bears the responsibility for allowing the terrorist press to operate freely on his...

Ever since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister at the end of June he has had a lead in the polls over David Cameron's Conservatives. So speculation is rife that he will call an autumn election. I have already pointed out a couple of flaws with this. He would need to do so in September, on the basis of three months opinion polls, and two of those months would be July and August, when most people's minds are not really on politics. He is too cautious for that. He remembers 1970, when Harold Wilson, having trailed in the polls for some...

TONY BLAIR is expected to inspect a prospective new home - known locally as a palace - when he travels to Jerusalem tomorrow on his first trip to the Middle East as a peace envoy. He is said to be keen to take over the one-time residence of the British High Commissioner for Palestine, with its ballroom and spectacular view of the golden dome of Al-Aqsa mosque. The house, built of Jerusalem stone in 1931, was once the pride of British diplomacy and occupies a commanding position in West Jerusalem on the inauspiciously named Hill of Evil Counsel, where Judas...

Blair: 'Sense of possibility' in Mideast Quartet envoy says he has come to region 'to listen, learn and reflect' during two days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian leaders, but adds he already senses a willingness by sides to make progress. Opposition leader Netanyahu warns him against Iran, its branches in Middle East Ronny Sofer and AP Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, making his first public comments as the international community's Mideast peace envoy, urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday to take advantage of a new "sense of possibility" in the region. Blair, who arrived in Israel on Monday, said...

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is expected to hold talks in Ramallah Tuesday with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, is about to discover that his dream of helping the Palestinians establish proper institutions is not easy to fulfill. Many Palestinians here on Monday expressed skepticism regarding Blair's mission. Even PA officials admitted that Blair's task as special envoy of the Quartet is not going to be smooth. The majority of the Palestinians don't view Blair as an honest broker, mainly because of his close association with US President George W. Bush and his role in the Iraq war....

Blair sets out on Middle East "Mission Impossible" Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:39PM BST By Adam Entous JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Tony Blair begins his first visit to the region as Middle East envoy on Monday, hoping he can help turn around 60 years of peacemaking failures since Britain ended its mandate over Palestine. "Mission Impossible" is what the sceptics have, inevitably, already called the newly retired prime minister's mandate. He has been asked by the Quartet powers -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- to present by September an initial plan for building ruling institutions needed...

Secularist Attacks on the Catholic Church in Britain By John Loughlin Friday, July 20, 2007, 8:51 AM One might have expected the Catholic Church in Great Britain to enter a cosy relationship with the new Labour Government of Tony Blair elected in 1997. During that year’s general election, the bishops of England and Wales had issued a document entitled The Common Good, which sought to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching to the issues of the day. Although the document did not advise voters for which party they should vote, it was clear that the sympathies of the bishops...

Blair: Imagine That Peace Process is Advancing (IsraelNN.com) Tony Blair stepped into his new position as Quartet Middle East envoy Thursday with hopes and dreams and told worldwide diplomats in Lisbon, "Just imagine for a moment if this process were moving forward again, just think how much hope there would be." The Quarter, comprising the United Nations, United States, European Union (EU) and Russia, met with Blair, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other diplomats in a unified effort to accelerate plans for Israel to give away most of Judea and Samaria and...

US to keep Blair out of Middle East By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem Last Updated: 1:35am BST 20/07/2007 Tony Blair was told by the United States yesterday that he had no authority to tackle political negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as he spent his first full day as special envoy to the Middle East. Condoleezza Rice, Javier Solana and Tony Blair at the meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Lisbon Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, insisted that America would retain leadership of the "political track" while Mr Blair would work on raising funds for the Palestinians,...

When Tony Blair announced his resignation after 10 years as prime minister of the United Kingdom, his voice choked with emotion and he nearly shed a tear. He asked his audience to believe that he had always done what he thought was right. He would have been nearer the mark had he said that he always thought that what was right was whatever he had done. Throughout his years in office, he kept inviolable his belief in the existence of a purely beneficent essence of himself, a belief so strong that no quantity of untruthfulness, shady dealings, unscrupulousness, or constitutional...

A road map for Mr. Blair By SHLOMO AVINERI The appointment of the former British prime minister as the Quartet's representative for the Middle East peace process has already put Tony Blair in the crossfire of regional politics. Many Arab commentators have voiced their dissatisfaction with the appointment of a person identified with President Bush's policies in Iraq; some Israelis have expressed a mild unease, given Blair's insistence on an early cease-fire in last year's Lebanon war; and there are rumblings from Brussels that Blair may take some of the limelight from the EU's Javier Solana. On top of all...