LIVERPOOL, England — U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle launched a fierce defense Tuesday of Tony Blair’s role in Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, saying: “We should celebrate this.”
No sooner had Trump released a 20-point proposal for establishing a ceasefire in Gaza with a starring role for the former U.K. prime minister than his old party colleagues began to complain.
The idea of Blair once again throwing himself into the affairs of the Middle East instantly provoked a backlash among his sworn critics and even some more moderate Labour figures.
MPs voiced their objections aloud and in private, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not mention his predecessor by name even as he hailed the blueprint as “profoundly welcome.”
Blair has experience of building peace agreements in Northern Ireland and Kosovo — but he also has a decades-long history of intervention in the Middle East, which some argue constrains his ability to act as a neutral broker.
However, prominent members of Starmer’s Cabinet came to his defense Tuesday as they took part in a series of interviews at the POLITICO pub at Labour conference.
“We’re the only country in the world that I know of that wouldn’t celebrate the fact that we have statespeople that are actually used at [a] time of crisis,” said Kyle.
Blair’s baggage
Blair’s occasional forays into the front line of politics always attract skepticism, and his attachment to the scheme for a ceasefire is no exception.
The hard left position was voiced by former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who posted that Blair’s decision to invade Iraq “cost thousands upon thousands of lives” and “he shouldn’t be anywhere near the Middle East, let alone Gaza.”
Others objected that the plan put forward by Trump had not done enough to include the wishes of Palestinians and proposes external governance.
Sarah Champion, Labour chair of the International Development Committee, told Bloomberg: “Tony Blair has history in the Middle East and that means he does not come to the table in a neutral role, but with baggage. It should be up to the Palestinian people to decide if that makes him a good or bad advocate.”
Similarly, there are fears that Blair’s reemergence on the scene could hurt Labour at the next election among voters who mistrust both the party’s and his personal response to the conflict in Gaza.
One senior Labour adviser held their head in their hands as the news reached party conference. “Just what the people of the Middle East need,” this person said, sarcastically.
Even Health Secretary Wes Streeting, seen as a political descendant of Blair, admitted: “There’ll be some people who look at Tony Blair and his legacy in Iraq, and will raise eyebrows, to say the least.”
Diplomatic depth
Blair’s allies in the modern Labour Party have, however, pointed to lines of continuity between his current efforts to make progress in Gaza and his diplomatic past, particularly his role in bringing an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Streeting credited him with “an incredible legacy in Northern Ireland,” adding: “If he can bring that skill set to bear in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the support of Israelis, Palestinians and other regional powers, then so much the better.”
And a No. 10 official acknowledged Starmer, whose national security adviser is Blair’s former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, was “basically positive about any serious effort to map a way out of the war in Gaza,” regardless of the dramatis personae.
Kyle, the business secretary, said aspects of the 20-point plan reminded him of the Good Friday Agreement and could provide “glimmers of hope” if implemented. In particular, the inclusion of phased incentives and an amnesty for former Hamas members, as well as a process for security normalization, are in line with elements of the GFA.
The former prime minister is also unusual in maintaining good links among senior Israelis and Arab leaders.
Steve Reed, the housing secretary, told POLITICO: “You need individuals involved in this who have the respect and support both of the Arab nations around Israel, and of Israel and of the United States,” which presents “a relatively small pool of people to draw from.”
Yet the strong emotions inspired by Blair in both directions appear to be outweighed by the simple desire among many British politicians to see an end to the conflict.
When Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was asked if Blair was the right man for the job, she told ITV: “I honestly don’t care. What I care [about] is what works.”
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