Tony Blair is the subject of false rumours. Not that he’s getting any sympathy.

Tony Blair


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Tony Blair is hardly a politician born in the image of outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. And a speech he gave on Thursday 20 February was typical ‘centrist dad‘ fare. But there are some rumours circulating about what he did beforehand which aren’t true – however believable they may be.

Another day, another centrist dad speech

Blair was giving a speech at King’s College London. It was via his thinktank the Tony Blair Institute:

 

His speech represented the usual antiquated centrism. As BBC News reported, Blair called on the Labour leadership candidate to consider looking at “fundamental reconstruction” of the party. But interestingly, he admitted that his views were probably not “particularly welcome”. Undoubtedly not, although not as unwelcome as a whistle-stop tour of Iraq from him would probably be right now.

But it was what people think Blair did before this which got their hackles up.

False rumours

To be able to deliver his dull, soulless lecture, some people mistakenly thought the former PM had to cross a picket line. One person said:

I am so angry about this. Tony Blair literally crossing a UCU picket line. I’m an Associate Lecturer, work in two universities both on zero hours contracts. 40/50 hours a week, last year I scraped together 13k. This year one university dropped my pay by 20%. I might make 11K.

Another pointed out that Blair would be delivering:

a lecture about the founding of a party created to give the trade union movement a political voice, an aim he work[ed] hard to destroy

But while Blair scabbing on striking workers may be wholly believable, on this occasion it’s not true. Because staff at King’s College London aren’t actually on strike yet:

Everybody out!

But staff at dozens of other universities across the UK have walked out. The 14-day strike has been set up by the University and Colleges Union (UCU). As BBC News reported:

The UCU says 50,000 of its members will take the action over workloads, pay, a 15% gender pay gap, increased casualisation and changes to pensions for staff in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

The union is angry members are now having to pay 9.6% in pension contributions, up from 8%, and wants universities to pay the full increase instead.

Blair. Orbiting himself.

In short, Blair didn’t do anything wrong. Which is surely a first. Because not least among his torrid record of misdemeanours is:

And when you’ve got the blood of hundreds of thousands of dead civilians on your hands, people will justifiably have a deep mistrust of everything you do.

Featured image via BBC

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  • Show Comments

    1. Good article, could have mentioned the Invasion of Iraq a few times though …. joking aside, it seems there are still a great many people who do not appreciate that having war-criminals in the Labour Party makes it as trustworthy and palatable as a sewer sandwich.

      I joined The Labour Party in the hopes of Jeremy Corbyn getting in and dealing with that piece of human war-mongering refuse, but as that has not happened, I cancelled my membership in protest at Blair (and other Blairites), as it is clear it is going into Starmer’s dirty hands, and that Blair is still running (sorry I mean ruining) things in the Labour Party.

      Tony Blair would be most welcome in Iraq (without bodyguards or military escort), I wonder why he doesn’t holiday there?

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    2. You above joined the Labour party in the hope of getting Corbyn in? HaHaHa are you having a laugh. It was never going to happen. Just look back at leftie Labour leaders. How many have made PM? Answer none?
      Oh you castigate Blair for the war, I tweeted the morning. Hussein invaded Kuwait and then gassed the Kurds, the west went in. Today we have Saudi’s bombing the hell out of Yemen with a starving child catastrophe. The west has done nothing except sell them more bombs. We have Assad creating havoc in Syria, he’s just displaced 1 million people, the West is doing nothing. Tell me who is right?
      Did the little prof in the article have his salary frozen in the Blair years, no? That’s a surprise.
      My husband was a cop, now retired, he paid 13% into his pension fund. If you want a decent pension you have to pay for it. Assuming you’re not on a slave labour contract under the Tories.
      Look at the economy in those years, the most stable in decades, until the banks screwed it up.
      Corbyn says nationalise everything that’s not screwed down. Now there is an argument for that. The East Rail line is a prime example of the fact that nationalised can work and can work well.
      You might find the middle road politics unpalatable. I find the Corbyn doctrine stupid. Why? Because he’s lost 3 elections on the trot.
      The latest loss is a catastrophe on the monumental scale, Labour voters conned by the billionaire trash rash owners, voted for #BrexitJohnson. FFS..
      As per my prediction that Corbyn would never be PM, I now predict those Labour voters will come to rue the day they put theirs brains on one side and voted for that Old Etonian, monstrosity.

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