Tales from Downing Street

Tony Blair's memoirs tipped to become bestseller

The memoirs of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which went on sale on Wednesday, September 1, are called “A Journey: My Political Life”. But journalists have already noticed that the former head of the cabinet of ministers was lying. The book deals not only with his own life, and not only with his political life.

Tony Blair and British troops in Basra, 2004. Photo from the archive (c)AFP

“The Journey” attracted the attention of media of a wide variety of directions: from the tabloids The Daily Mirror and Daily Star to the quite respectable The Times and The Guardian. We noticed a new product on the book market on the other side of the Atlantic. 's memoirs for the Los Angeles Times Thus, Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Ratten wrote a review of Tony Blair . The journalist felt that “The Journey” stands out from other autobiographies of politicians in the English-speaking world, at least because it was actually written by Blair himself, and not by a team of professional writers hired for the occasion.

The moment of publication coincided with an important milestone in the history of the 21st century: on the eve of the release of The Journey, US President Barack Obama officially announced the end of the war in Iraq. Of course, British troops left Iraq back in 2009, but the very fact of the end of the war, which began when Tony Blair was prime minister, makes us perceive what he himself writes about Iraq in a completely different way . And Blair still considers the decision to invade Iraq correct and timely, although he regrets the lives lost.

Gordon

Much was expected from the ex-prime minister's book. One of the most interesting topics for readers seemed to be the relationship between Tony Blair and his Labor Party colleague Gordon Brown . And here the politician did not disappoint the audience. True, sometimes it is difficult to understand where Blair is joking and where he is absolutely serious. For example, about the events of 1994, when Labor, after the unexpected death of John Smith, had to decide on a new leader, Tony Blair tells a rather strange story.

According to an excerpt from The Journey quoted by The Daily Telegraph, Blair and Brown met at Nick Ryden's house to agree on which of them would lead the party. Both politicians were almost forty, and both were ambitious enough to already at that time be looking closely at number 10 Downing Street - the residence of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers. By the way, both of them had a chance to live there later. Tony Blair writes that they were left alone in the house, and then Brown said that he needed to leave for a few minutes.

Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Photo (c)AFP

Blair did not wait for his party comrade to return either after 10 minutes or after a quarter of an hour, and then the phone rang in the house. Since the politician was not the owner of the home, he was not going to answer the phone. The answering machine went on and Tony Blair was amazed to hear Brown's voice. As it turned out, during the renovation, the locks were removed from the toilet door, and they forgot to reattach the handle on the inside. Blair's rival went inside, slammed the door behind him, but could no longer get out. This is how, according to Tony Blair, the fate of the Labor Party was decided - if Gordon Brown had refused to withdraw his candidacy from the vote, his comrade-in-arms would simply have left him in the restroom.

However, the former prime minister does not always talk about Gordon Brown in a humorous manner. According to Blair, before each election Labor faced the “Gordon problem” - Brown believed that he would cope with the duties of head of government better, and did not immediately agree to support his fellow party rival. Tony Blair goes on to describe Brown as capable of "political calculation" but lacking "political sense". According to Blair, Brown has an analytical mind, but he is emotionally deaf and mute. And at the end of the weighty volume, Tony Blair completely blames Brown for Labour’s defeat in the 2010 elections: he believes that the conservative David Cameron was able to win because Gordon Brown was not adapted to modern conditions of political activity, and the party retreated under him from the principles of “ New Labourism ” proclaimed in the mid-nineties.

Diana

In "The Journey" Tony Blair also remembers Princess Diana - he dedicated about 20 pages of the book to her. The question, the answer to which was most expected from the former prime minister, is touched upon in the memoirs only indirectly. Talking about his last meeting with the princess, Blair does not say directly whether he asked her to end her relationship with Dodi al-Fayed (the royal family did not want the mother of future heirs to the throne to marry the son of an Egyptian billionaire), but admits that during a long walk they had a difficult conversation, which upset Diana. However, the date given by the ex-prime minister - July 6, 1997 - indicates that the meeting took place before Diana's personal life worried the inhabitants of Buckingham Palace. Moreover, on the eve of the book’s release, Tony Blair assured The Guardian journalists that the princess’s potential marriage was not discussed during the walk.

Otherwise, the description of the relationship between the prime minister and the princess corresponds to the expectations of the public. Blair admires Diana and regrets her early death. And the description of the first days in Buckingham Palace after the death of the princess is practically no different from the version of events set out in the film “ The Queen ,” which was released back in 2006. Blair's behavior after the death of Lady Di was no secret to anyone: the minister tried to persuade the Queen to make a public statement about the death of the princess, and when Elizabeth II refused, he made a statement on his own behalf. He insisted on a public funeral for the princess.

Bush and all, all, all

Tony Blair mentions hundreds of more or less famous personalities in his memoirs. And he speaks more than kindly about the vast majority of them. himself George W. Bush , who has been criticized in recent years even by his former supporters, is praised by Blair for his calm character, determination and ease of communication. Moreover, the ex-prime minister praises the quality of the former American president that Bush is usually denied - intelligence. As Blair writes, neither in British nor in American politics can a narrow-minded person succeed, and those who portray Bush Jr. as slow-witted look ridiculous themselves.

Tony and Cheryl Blair at Princess Diana's funeral. Photo (c)AFP

The former prime minister also speaks with admiration of the leaders of the Irish Republican Party Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. He calls them outstanding people and talks about how, over time, he developed deep sympathy for them. Tony Blair had kind words for Bill Clinton , David Miliband , and even football player David Beckham. He praises his predecessor as Labor leader, John Smith, not only for his outstanding intelligence and strong character, but also for his ability to drink incredible quantities of alcohol. In general, Tony Blair's portraits of his contemporaries come out very vivid. Not without irony, he comments on the love affairs of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, as well as the sex scandal surrounding former Home Secretary David Blunkett, and immediately launches into a discussion about why women are so attracted to male politicians.

Many pages are devoted to Blair's personal life. So, he says that his first friend was the only girl at school who was transferred to this educational institution as part of an experiment. Apparently, the future prime minister already had to cope with more than a dozen competitors. But, of course, Blair pays much more attention to his wife Cheryl and children than to his youthful loves. There were also some digs at family members: Blair recalls to her son Ewan how he wildly celebrated passing the GCSE exams required to obtain secondary education certificates. Sarcastically noting that “there was no reason for special celebrations,” the former prime minister tells how his minor son walked the streets drunk, ended up in police custody, and then apologized to his father. Apparently deciding that Ewan is still not punished enough for an offense ten years ago, Tony Blair informs all readers that the teenager then vomited.

According to reviewers, Tony Blair's memoirs are much more interesting than the autobiographical works of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. "The Journey" is already predicted to become a bestseller. Considering that proceeds from the book's sales will go to the Royal British Legion charity, the high sales of The Journey would be a boon for veterans. But it is too early to judge whether Blair's memoirs will last on bookshelves for several decades, like Churchill's books.

Yulia Savitskaya

Tales from Downing Street

Gordon

Diana

Bush and all, all, all

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Lenta.ru: Around the world: Tales from Downing Street