"[72] In 2009, Blair stated that he would have supported removing Saddam Hussein from power even in the face of proof that he had no such weapons. All four children have Irish passports, by virtue of Tony Blair's mother, Hazel Elizabeth Corscadden, a Protestant, the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who moved to Glasgow in 1916 but returned to Ballyshannon in 1923, where Hazel was born to George and Sarah Margaret (née Lipsett), above her family's grocery shop. Tony Blair's son Euan lavishes £3.6m on stunning marital home with new bride THIS is the stunning £3.6million townhouse that Tony Blair’s oldest son Euan has bought to start his married life. [265], In May 2007, before his resignation, it was speculated that Blair would be offered a knighthood in the Order of the Thistle, owing to his Scottish connections (rather than the Order of the Garter, which is usually offered to former Prime Ministers). Matrix was formed in 2000 specialising in human rights law, though members also practise in a range of areas of UK public and private law, the Law of the European Union and European Convention on Human Rights, and public international law. The former prime minister was speaking on Times … On his resignation he was appointed Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, a diplomatic post which he held until 2015. [28] Although Blair lost the Beaconsfield by-election and Labour's share of the vote fell by 10 percentage points, he acquired a profile within the party. She is married to Tony Blair, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. [213] Friends had said that the act was partly motivated by the wish to "repair his reputation". [49], Blair has described herself as a socialist and, at times, has appeared to have views further to the left than those of her husband. Leo, delivered by the Royal … Tony Blair The Prime Minister outlines Labour's initiative to strengthen society by helping parents to cope Sun 20 Mar 2005 05.24 EST First published on Sun 20 Mar 2005 05.24 EST At the last minute, he was added to the shortlist and won the selection over Huckfield. [91][92], Labour's overall majority at the 2005 general election was reduced from 167 to 66 seats. They agreed not to stand against each other, it is said, as part of a supposed Blair–Brown pact. Trivia. [77] He said there was "no real difference between wanting regime change and wanting Iraq to disarm: regime change was US policy because Iraq was in breach of its UN obligations. [12][13] The Office for Judicial Complaints released an initial statement saying they had "received a number of complaints in relation to the comments" that Blair had made when sentencing Shamso Miah and that the matter was under investigation. [262], When Blair resigned as Prime Minister, Robert Harris, a former Fleet Street political editor, dropped his other work to write The Ghost. In a 1997 visit to the United States, he made a comment on "great industrialised nations" that fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [56] In addition to Ashdown, Liberal Democrat MPs Menzies Campbell and Alan Beith were earmarked for places in the cabinet if a Labour-Lib Dem coalition was formed. Blair co-authored, with Cate Haste, the 2004 book The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister. [38] He was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, despite never strongly being in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament. During … Since the Iraq War, Blair has been the subject of war crimes accusations. Nicky Blair. The sisters attended Catholic schools in Crosby, Merseyside. He met his future wife, Cherie Booth (daughter of the actor Tony Booth) at the law chambers founded by Derry Irvine (who was to be Blair's first Lord Chancellor), 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers. [273][274], On 13 September 2010, Blair was awarded the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [35] Blair's election literature in the 1983 general election endorsed left-wing policies that Labour advocated in the early 1980s. [208] The memoirs were seen by many as controversial and a further attempt to profit from his office and from acts related to overseas wars that were widely seen as wrong,[209][210][211] leading to anger and suspicion prior to launch. Calling on the slogan, "One member, one vote" John Smith (with limited input from Blair) secured an end to the trade union block vote for Westminster candidate selection at the 1993 conference. In July 2009, this accomplishment was followed by the launching of the Faith and Globalisation Initiative with Yale University in the US, Durham University in the UK, and the National University of Singapore in Asia, to deliver a postgraduate programme in partnership with the Foundation. The court heard that Miah had been to a mosque shortly before he broke a man's jaw following a row in a bank queue. [123] This change made it easier for UK residents to bring foreign spouses into the country. [177], On 27 June 2007, Blair officially resigned as Prime Minister after ten years in office, and he was officially confirmed as Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia. Booth was born in 23 September 1954 at Fairfield General Hospital, Bury, Lancashire, England,[1] and brought up in Ferndale Road, Waterloo, Merseyside, just north of Liverpool. [159] In 2011, Blair became Godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch's children with Wendi Deng,[160] but he and Murdoch later ended their friendship, in 2014, after Murdoch suspected him of having an affair with Deng while they were still married, according to The Economist magazine. [25], After Oxford, Blair then became a member of Lincoln's Inn and enrolled as a pupil barrister. A Save the Children decision to give former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair an award for his anti-poverty work is criticised by some charity workers. Every child living in poverty is a stain on our nation- and more are at risk from the tandem economic threats of coronavirus pandemic and a hard Brexit, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair writes [178] Blair originally indicated that he would retain his parliamentary seat after his resignation as Prime Minister came into effect; however, on being confirmed for the Middle East role he resigned from the Commons by taking up an office of profit. He was named after Tony's father, Leo Blair. [33], The selection for Sedgefield did not begin until after the 1983 general election was called. Again in 2003, Blair went before the United States Congress and said that climate change "cannot be ignored", insisting "we need to go beyond even Kyoto. Where its proxies operate, it should be held responsible. "[157], Blair was reported by The Guardian in 2006 to have been supported politically by Rupert Murdoch, the founder of the News Corporation organisation. I will at the same time say why, nonetheless, I believe that it was better to remove Saddam Hussein and why I do not believe this is the cause of the terrorism we see today whether in the Middle East or elsewhere in the world". [29], Her relationship with Caplin gave rise to headlines in some newspapers, as Caplin is credited with introducing Blair to various New Age symbols and beliefs. Despite his electoral successes and reforms, he has also been criticised for his relationship with the media, centralisation of executive powers, and aspects of his social and economic policies. [170][171], After taking office in 1997, Blair gave particular prominence to his press secretary, who became known as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (the two roles have since been separated). born 1988, age 30 with Cherie Blair. [195] The Kazakhstan foreign minister said that the country was "honoured and privileged" to be receiving advice from Blair. [215] On 4 September Blair was confronted by 200 anti-war and hardline Irish nationalist demonstrators before the first book signing of his memoirs at Eason's bookstore on O'Connell Street in Dublin, with angry activists chanting "war criminal" and that he had "blood on his hands", and clashing with Irish Police (Garda Síochána) as they tried to break through a security cordon outside the Eason's store. He opposed the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1986 but supported the ERM by 1989. Where its networks exist, they should be disrupted. [74][75], Testifying before the Iraq Inquiry on 29 January 2010, Blair said Saddam was a "monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world. They aspired to middle-class status, but accepted the Conservative argument that Labour was holding ambitious people back with its levelling-down policies. Where it is seeking influence, it should be countered. Later, though, people began to question his decisions, particularly his support of war in Iraq . [23][24], In 1975, while Blair was at Oxford, his mother Hazel died aged 52 of thyroid cancer, which greatly affected him. [246], A longer exploration of his faith can be found in an interview with Third Way Magazine. Blair stated, "We know the options for Brexit. Tony Blair Family. It covers the spouses of former prime ministers Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major. "[78] In an October 2015 CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, Blair apologised for his "mistakes" over Iraq War and admitted there were "elements of truth" to the view that the invasion helped promote the rise of ISIS. She was also a subject in "Shoot The Dog", a song by George Michael that was critical of the Iraq war. Speaking on Times Radio, the former prime minister insisted that a goal should be set to increase vaccinations to five million per week. Leaving Fettes College at the age of eighteen, Blair next spent a gap year in London attempting to find fame as a rock music promoter. [259] He has also appeared as himself at the end of the first episode of The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, a British television series about an unknown housewife becoming Prime Minister. [155] During Blair's premiership, MI6 rendered Abdelhakim Belhadj to the Gaddafi regime in 2004, though Blair later claimed he had "no recollection" of the incident. It has been reported that a number of cabinet ministers believed that Blair's timely departure from office would be required to be able to win a fourth election. [61], His contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland peace process by helping to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement (after 30 years of conflict) was widely recognised. Blair was born in Edinburgh; his father, Leo, was a barrister and academic. Mr Blair made the call as he urged ministers to change the UK’s strategy completely in tackling the virus. [164] Lord Avebury's initial October 2003 information request was dismissed by then leader of the Lords, Baroness Amos. 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