Opinion: Citizen Blair

11/13/2014 - 16h52

Tony Blair was the longest serving Labour Party prime minister in history (1997-2007), winning three consecutive general elections.

He is credited with helping save the British monarchy in the aftermath of the tragic death in Paris of Princess Diana (Blair was portrayed in the 2006 film "The Queen" by Michael Sheen, with Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth).

Blair was the embodiment of "new Labour," the reinvented British Labour Party, market-friendly, neo-liberal, and shorn of its old trade-union domination. He was the enthusiastic sidekick to president George W Bush in his post 9/11 military intervention in Afghanistan and enthusiastically joined the Americans in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Retrospectively he was fortune in the timing of his exit. He was replaced as prime minister by his long term Labour Party rival Gordon Brown a year before the worst global financial crisis since the "Great Depression" struck.

The collapse of Lemann Brothers in the United States was followed in Britain by government bailouts of several major banks. Europe has yet to fully recuperate.

Since 2007, however, Blair has followed a well trodden path. In setting up his companies is was advised by London based KPMG LLP and Robert Barnet, a Washington DC lawyer, who had advised Bill Clinton in setting up his own lucrative post-presidential operations.

The byzantine configeration of Blair's enterprises is perfectly legal, and "limited partnerships" are not obliged to publish accounts under English law. Henry Kissinger of course set the "gold standard" for such "consultancies," both in lucrativeness, as well as in protecting the secrecy of his clients.

JP Morgan Chase & Company have paid Blair US$ 10 million since 2008. He also advises the Swiss insurer Zurich International. He serves as a paid advisor to the Abu Dhabi, and to president Nursaltan Nazarbyev of Kazakhstan. Since 2012 "Tony Blair Associates" also advises Governor Geraldo Alckmin on "modernizing" Sao Paulo's public services as part of the "Sao Paulo 2030."

The London "Sunday Times" this week revealed details of what it called "Blair's secret cash for contacts deal with the Saudis." PetroSaudi, an oil company co-founded by prince Turki bin Abdulla Al Saud, a son of King Abdulla, provided Blair with a fee of £41,000 a month, and a 2% commission on any of the multimillion-pound deals he helped broker.

PetroSaudi has projects in Ghana, Indonesia, Venezuela, Tunisia and Malaysia. The deal (which is no longer operative) involved Blair arranging introductions with his high level contacts in China.

Blair has certainly thrived. Among the properties Blair and his family now own is the Mayfair townhouse where John Adams resided in London as the first US ambassador. As well as the elegant country mansion which once was the home of the actor Sir John Gielgud.

Blair points to his role as the (unpaid) Middle East Envoy for the so-called "quartet" of the UN, USA, EU, and Russia. As well as his philanthropic work in his "Faith Foundation" and in Africa.

"Its not about making money. Its about making a difference," he told a gathering of "New Labour" loyalists on the 20th anniversary of his election as Labour Party leader. Maybe.

But Blair should remember former president Jimmy Carter, whose activities since he left office have indeed made the world a better place, and without making a lot of money for himself in the process.