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hello and welcome to doc review with me
camellias chambray Yahtzee in this
episode we'll be reviewing the killings
of Tony Blair starring and written by
George Galloway and co-directed by Greg
Ward Sandlin Vanderburgh and Daniel
Torrey joining me in the studio today we
have Kris Niner who was a founder member
of stopped the war coalition and counter
fire he is also the author of the People
vs Tony Blair and beside him is Maria
Duarte who was a film critic for the
Morningstar newspaper and who has also
worked as a news journalist in both
television and radio for many years now
the killings of Tony Blair is a scathing
examination of the political career a
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
and his questionable business activities
since leaving office Galloway argues as
the title of the documentary suggests
that Blair killed the Labour Party
killed a million Iraqis and then made a
financial killing as a result of the
other two killings let's have a look at
our first clip
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a new Donna's broken
[Applause]
he had them Clinton thing his eyes
around and big and smiling and he was
very charming he became this incredible
pop idol kind of Prime Minister I think
most people who have dealt with me think
I'm pretty straight so a guy and I am
New Labour was backed by the most
powerful media interest because they
realized he was representing then he was
caught red-handed trading policy in
return for hard cash from a businessman
America has no true a friend than Great
Britain
for shampoos as well as don't implanted
into history Blair a war criminal in my
opinion yes most definitely the pursuit
of money has become the dominant theme
in your life all these relationships are
in most people's estimation corrupt
relationships no previous labour Prime
Minister is behaving this shameful money
who are being way how do you sleep about
it you know it's that it's as a person
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welcome both of you to the show Maria if
I could start with you as our guest film
critic how did you find this documentary
well this was a fascinating and complex
look and also a somber reminder of Tony
Blair's avarice and it was a passion
project by George Galloway and it was
crowd funded by that 5,000 people and
what he does is he sets the case for the
prosecution and he he interviews a whole
array of people from journalists
politicians to former intelligence
officers and even one of his relatives
and Chris what about you how did you
find this documentary would you agree
with Maria's take yeah I think it's a
very powerful piece of work I mean his
life and what's happened to him
continues to have the power to shock
really I mean it's quite incredible
exciting to think you know I know most
of this stuff but actually the impact is
very very strong and I think one of the
things he gets across is the way this
guy who was presented as being the kind
of voice of a return to democracy and
civilization and a kind of friendly
charming democratic individual who was
the kind of salvation of British society
back in 1997 actually was revealed to be
deeply cynical deeply sinister and
money-grabbing
and and cold and calculated indeed in
Moorea this man Tony Blair is known as
the most hated man in Britain and does
this documentary help you understand why
there isn't and if you really if you
didn't know already it does in a way I
mean the problem with it is that
Galloway doesn't provide a defense you
know he goes to his office's Salton Sea
offices and may throw knocks on the door
you know very much like Michael Moore
but doesn't get anyone to give you the
other side and but it is it's just so
fascinating basically and the other
thing is that Galloway is very much a
maverick and and a lot of people think
that
he's a bit bonkers not helped by the
fact that he was on obviously a big
brother to pretend to be a cat and so
that along with the facts but many
people think he has an axe to grind
because obviously Tony Blair expulsion
from the Labour Party it was a penny
part of the movie actually stopped the
world coalition as press with no in
leading this but this documentary lends
itself as one of the most controversial
documentaries as it stated in the clip
Chris do you think it is and for the
right reasons well I mean I I think you
know in a way Tony Blair sort of is the
big scandal of 21st century British
politics and in a way what's compounded
that scandal is the fact that this stuff
isn't really out there that he actually
needs a documentary crowd funded by
George Galloway to tell this story it's
the big story that everyone should be
focusing on so so in that sense you know
it is controversial but it shouldn't be
because really you know this is such an
obvious story in a certain sense for any
investigative journalist to nail it
should be part of the kind of common
sense and in a way in the popular mind
it is part of the common sense but
there's this gap between the media the
official world and the rest of us who
basically hate Tony Blair but he still
he's still invited into the day program
to give his opinion all sorts of
different things you know he's still
regarded as a respectable figure despite
the fact that he's clean well that's a
great point but I'm afraid we'll have to
leave it up just for now as we look at
our next clip from the killings of Tony
Blair which talks about flares close
relationship with media mogul Rupert
Murdoch and how Blair destroyed the
Labour Party
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how would you describe your relationship
with Tony Blair
and the Sephora new labor was backed in
power by the most powerful media
interests that most powerful
corporations and city interests because
they realized he was representing them
you shop with the devil you take a long
spoon is the world isn't it and I don't
think there's any doubt that as far as
British polity is concerned
Ribit murder was the devil in in that to
come to an accommodation with him meant
sacrificing all the principles of a
Protestant for the Labour Party I had
joined as a 13 year old was as it says
on the tin a party of the working class
it prided itself on its internal
democracy with members having the right
to vote on policy but under the banner
of what they called New Labour and I
called non-labor Blair and his clique
began to steer the party into the eager
embrace of Thatcherism dragging a
left-wing party into the footsteps of
the Iron Lady would require an iron fist
for Blair democracy was soul overrated
[Music]
I was George Galloway there Maria why
was this alliance between murder and
Blair so significant it was incredible
really and it was one of the things that
surprised me because it was the only way
that labor got into power basically the
way that labor was it was never going to
get in so Tony but I had to reimagine
the party and so we had new labor and
and when Margaret Thatcher turn around
and said that her biggest legacy was new
labor and Tony Blair then you have to
think or hold on this is not what the
Labor Party is about and in order to
become electable they had to ditch their
socialist tendencies and again goes
against the whole grain of the Labor
Party and what Tony Blair did which was
unforgivable in a way was to bring in
privatization by stealth through the
back door with PF eyes so you had public
and private partnerships and this film
brings that out something that I think
you need to hear it to actually believe
it but for me the Rupert Murdoch angle
was just incredible and a Kris why are
you surprised by this relationship and
how big of a role the media played in
bringing up Blair no I mean you know I
think it's a matter of record I think it
was a very important that's a process
that took place at the end of the
eighties the beginning of the nineties
whereby the argument was one in labor
that you know you had to ditch these
policies you had to ditch
nationalization you had to ditch defense
the welfare state and progressive
taxation and so on and so forth because
you had to be everything was seen
through the prism of a right-wing media
I mean I don't really buy that narrative
actually I think that the tide was
turning against the government the
Tories towards the end of the 80s and
certainly you know by the mid 90s anyway
and I think the kind of it was the Sun
what one argument both for the Tories
and for the for labour in 97 I think
it's misplaced and I don't think we
should buy into this idea that whatever
the media says is what actually happens
because the price has been such a you
know so huge and many of the problems
that the credibility problems that labor
has now can be traced back to that
moment when Blair and before him
actually
it said hang on a minute you know we've
got to ditch Pro working class policies
so you just mentioned that we could
still feel the effects and the legacy of
Blair in destroying the Labor Party how
else did Blair kill the Labour Party
exactly what destroying is a strong word
and I you know I don't think the Labour
Party is over but I think the this
process whereby essentially Tony Blair
built into the there is no alternative
narrative to say that neoliberalism is
the only game in town we dress it up
with a few socially progressive policies
but basically we buy it something that's
happened to social democracy right
across the world
I think it's been disastrous and it's
meant that you know there's the call for
Earth the globalized view of the world
has become the dominant one and we've
got to get back to providing an
alternative he brought this charisma
this whole new kind of presidential line
of politics where you know he was slick
he was stylish he had the sound bites
and people believed him you know he
peddled the lies and if you say a lie
long enough people will believe it and
that's what happened and people still
fall through it and and that's the
problem that I think leaders after Blair
I mean the problem they have the people
want their leader to be presentable and
to be able to in essence sort of fight
their corner or look as if they can
fight their corner but you know
substance is important it's not all
about style so are you saying there that
Blair became transformed British
politics into a sort of more American
politics yes that's why I think also
brown faltered because he's a he was a
traditionalist or fashioned politician
and people were so used to Blair I mean
the war the war on Iraq was incredible
and he sold it I'm actually going to
talk about the Blair and the Iraq war
sorry and the next step as we take a
look at the documentary the killings of
Tony Blair which looks at how Blair
joins then US President George Bush's
crusade to dominate at the Middle East
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we both recognize the danger of Saddam
Hussein harboring and developing weapons
of mass destruction the president is
right to draw attention to the threat of
weapons of mass destruction that threat
is real as minutes of a bush Blair
meeting spell out the war was to be
justified by imaginary threats Iraqi
terrorism and weapons of mass
destruction the intelligence to be fixed
around the policy as Blair toured the
world drumming up support for the war
the Americans had discovered the only
real WMD around a weapon of mass
deception Blair's strong passionate
often advocacy of the war carried a lot
of weight that evidence of weapons of
mass destruction is evidence the truth
of which I've absolutely no doubt about
at all
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we all fully realize now that of course
the weapons of mass destruction was in
fact as Galloway put it in the
documentary a weapon of mass deception
Maria how was it at the time that Blair
was able to lobby so much support for
the Iraq war because of his charisma he
could sell anything basically and also
he had a very great team around him had
Alastair Campbell who was I think
pulling the strings reportedly behind
the scenes and so he would do nothing
wrong I mean the whole thing about the
WMDs was brought up by Andrew Gilligan
in the radio 4 Radio 4's Today program
where he said they set stopped the
document and that WMDs were a myth and
then that he was then called to task and
then it brought down sort of the
leadership at the BBC but fact was he
was Wyatt and Chris this part of the
documentary of course must hit home with
you stop the world of course was founded
after during the aftermath of 9/11 and
led 2 million protesters against the
Iraq war how devastating was Tony
Blair's part foreign policy well I mean
I think you know it's been a catastrophe
obviously for the people in Middle East
for people in Central Asia it's
generated carnage and chaos around whole
regions of the world it's actually
spread clearly the threat of terrorism
is made the world a much more dangerous
place he's done all those things but
it's also been devastating to the body
politic and I think if you want to look
for the one of the key sources of the
the distrust of the media the D
legitimization of mainstream discourse
and actually the hatred and contempt
people feel for Westminster politics you
need to go no further than look at the
invasion of Iraq back in 2003 because it
was based on lies it was catastrophic
and what happened was the establishment
they came together they defended it even
though lots of them knew it was wrong so
I think you know the hollowing out of
politics has largely been or at least
importantly being a product of that
terrible war and how was it that Flair
was able to get away with such a crime
well I mean remember that the majority
of people in Britain were against it so
despite the fact that most of the media
almost the whole of the media supported
it most people
so through it it was the establishment
coming together that was the problem and
actually it was in my opinion the
cowardice of a lot of people in labor
who knew they were being lied to I mean
I don't really buy that most of the
politicians thought there were WMDs I
mean or if they did they weren't
bothering to check you know so they
would they would they were taken in and
rather than challenging Tony Blair they
went along with it and at because I
think partly they knew that to challenge
Tony Blair at that point would have been
to challenge the whole kind of
neoliberal pro-american agenda stood up
and resigned over it whereas Claire
short I have a great problem with her in
this film threatened what she threatened
to resign and then she was obviously
persuaded by Tony Blair otherwise they
should support it the Iraq war and then
she resigned two months later and now
she's on in this video in this
documentary sort of having a go at Blair
and you know against the war in Iraq
well hello you you voted for it and what
do you make I have to talk about this
Blair being appointed as the Middle East
peace and boy biggest tyranny ever
really yeah it's laughable but what can
you do you know yeah and Chris your
thoughts on this well he resigned in the
end in you know in total dishonor and I
think actually it's a very good bit of
the documentary where George talks about
the absolute catastrophe that has taken
place in in Palestine the faculty that
Tony Blair only went to the to Gaza
twice in five years as the Middle East
peace em boy is a shocking fact I mean
overall I just think then the the the
the absolute descent of Tony Blair into
this kind of totally degraded human
being who is obsessed with his own
personal fortune he's a friend of
dictators and torturers it's a it's a
really shocking story that goes right to
the heart of the kind of the the
deterioration of politics because as a
lapsed Catholic and he is a converted
Catholic I can't believe that he can
basically sleep at night which is what
Stephen Fry points out
he's committing so many sins on so many
levels and yet he's in total denial you
know he's lived he's been a important
accomplice to murder in effect he's been
and and yet you know as it said you know
he was Teflon Tony nothing stuck to him
and not only that we're going to see
that he's made a financial killing as a
result of all these things and we're
going to take a look now at our final
clip from the killings of Tony Blair
which shows the financial rewards Blair
enjoyed since leaving office please be
advised about this clip contains some
flash photography
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besides JPMorgan Blaire also landed a
job for petrol Saudi an oil company
owned by one of Prince Bandar's many
cousins Blair is popular at the court of
the head shoppers for obvious reasons
and it pays dividends all these
relationships that he's built up in the
years since he was Prime Minister are in
most people's estimation corrupt
relationships they are clearly
indicating that the decisions that Blair
took when he was Prime Minister had a
direct impact on who paid him money
thereafter and of course it's impossible
to believe that that didn't affect the
decision-making in the first place and
that idea that people take decisions
with the knowledge that they are going
to be lavishly rewarded in the years to
come is a knife at the heart of our
political and democratic systems Blair
certainly has been lavishly rewarded
although estimates of his wealth differ
wildly I mean I read them it's worth 100
million pounds
Charice kind of ask you where it is
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that was quite nauseating to watch Maria
what's your reaction to the fact that
not only did Tony Blair get away with
the illegal invasion of Iraq there seems
to be enjoying millions and millions of
pounds of money well the thing is that
you know he's not the first he won't be
the last leader that will make money
after office and no doubt using their
little black book of contacts to carry
on the problem is that a lot of people
see it as it's blood money you know lost
almost a million people died in that war
and and it's just heinous that he's
making money off the back of what he did
and people find it very difficult to
reconcile that in the film you see
people throwing shoes and eggs at him
when the book signing of his memoirs and
women buying books then I'm going to
burn it because you know it's been
written in blood and that's the problem
Chris what are your thoughts on this
well I mean I just think this this
journey from from being this sort of
fresh-faced so apparently idealistic
politician who is going to change the
face of Foreign Affairs and so on and so
forth to being the absolute epitome of
self-serving corrupt and cynical and an
actually kind of jaded figure is a very
very it's a very powerful image that I
think George captures well but it's also
it's not just the the journey of Tony
Blair it's the trajectory of British
politics in the 21st century and I think
you know in a way that's why it is kept
such a secret because attorney the
secret of what has happened to Britain
in the last 15 or 20 years indeed and
Blair is rumored to be making a comeback
to British politics do you think he
stands a chance Maria well I don't know
and the thing is that he can persuade
anyone on anything so yeah I wouldn't be
surprised if he does and managed to you
know work his way back into politics it
doesn't deserve to and people should be
very wary of him but the problem is that
he's thought that that demeanor that
people believe in him even after
everything he's done you know because he
still hasn't been prosecuted and he
won't be he still hasn't really
apologized properly for the war
and it still justifies going to war
knowing full well that there was no
reason and it was all about toppling a
government another regime which is goes
against the UN they're not allowed to do
that and he's kind of in this vacuum or
in this little bubble where you know he
hasn't done anything wrong
and if he actually Turner I said look
I'm really sorry hands up I it's
appalling and we shouldn't have gone
because he could have stopped it he
could have stopped according to the
documentary Bush from going to war but
he didn't Chris do you think then that
like Maria saying that he's being
delusional or is he aware of his
intentions I have no idea I don't have
this sort of you know the ability to see
into such a crazed mind but I mean what
I think there is a possibility that he
may make a comeback they've given the
way politics is going in the run which I
think what that represents is the fact
that you know the strange fact the
political center is collapsing actually
that's what's happening across the world
all the kind of the neoliberal politics
and economics that has dominated the
world for so long it's falling apart but
the establishment don't actually have an
alternative so so they keep coming back
to the same story you can see it in
France with macron you know they really
can't find another way forward and I
think that's why in the bigger picture
that's why he's still in the frame
shocking though it may be a lot of Trump
well you know anything's possible
and you know he he comes across as
someone you know sensible and he's
obviously got experience and he can do
the job and that's the other problem I'm
afraid we got a really great point but
I'm afraid we'll have to leave it there
thank you very much to both of you for
joining the show and bad fits for this
episode of doc review thanks for tuning
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I've been Camilla Shambo yachty and see
you on the next episode of doc review
you
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you
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