British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been in hot water for his handling of the ‘cash-for-peerages’ scandal, which saw him accused of fatally compromising democracy. The current public criticism doesn’t seem to bother the ex-PM who’s clearly enjoying life and taking a break from all things political.
Sir Tony Blair says he ‘understands’ how No 10 parties happened. He is currently a professor at King’s College London, and was appointed in September 2013 as the university’s first ever Chancellor.
The former Prime Minister said he had no recollection of hosting drinks parties during his tenure at Number 10. (Photo courtesy of REX)
Sir Tony Blair claimed to be able to “understand how” the Downing Street lockdown bursting parties took place.
The meetings were dubbed “inexcusable” by the former Prime Minister, but he declined to be drawn on whether his successor, Boris Johnson, should quit.
His involvement comes as public outrage grows over the Prime Minister’s handling of the crisis, with additional stories of parties in Number 10 emerging.
Sir Tony, who spent a decade living and working in the building, said he could ‘see people being upset and extremely angry’ at the alleged violation of Covid limits, but he could also see it ‘from the viewpoint of Downing Street.’
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband told Times Radio that he had no recollection of hosting drinking parties while in office.
‘The individuals in Downing Street would have been working under immense strain and hardship,’ he added.
‘I get where you’re coming from.
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‘But the problem is that you can justify it, but you can’t actually excuse it.’
‘People were following rules, sometimes at great personal cost, agony, and suffering, and it simply shouldn’t be allowed to happen, honestly,’ Sir Tony concluded. But I’m sure he (Mr Johnson) is aware of it.’
When questioned about his time at Downing Street, the 68-year-old said he didn’t want to ‘go into issues of resigning or not,’ but added: ‘When you’re there, it’s such a pressurised environment and you’re typically working flat-out, so most people at the end of the hectic day just want to go home.’
The Queen’s appointment of the former PM as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most prestigious British Order of Chivalry, has sparked outrage in recent weeks.
After leading Britain to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, a change.org petition to deprive him of his knighthood received more than a million signatures, with the campaign labeling him the “least deserved person.”
The father who was wrongfully arrested for the murder of Ashling Murphy ‘thought it was a joke.’
Sir Tony said he ‘anticipated’ people to criticize the decision, but that some people “want to claim the only thing the administration did was Iraq and overlook everything else we do.”
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have perished as a result of the conflict.
‘You don’t hold a position of leadership and take choices without provoking a lot of resistance, especially in today’s politics,’ the former PM continued,’so it (the response) didn’t surprise me.’
‘The best thing is to recognize that there will be people who are vehemently opposed to it and despise me for different reasons, and that’s simply how politics works.’
Rather of being addressed as ‘Sir Tony,’ he said that he was ‘quite satisfied with Tony.’
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MORE: Oliver Dowden’s ‘famous final words’: They’re no longer parties, ‘to my knowledge.’
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Sir Tony Blair has said that he “understands” how the No 10 parties happened. He also added that he is not “too bothered” about it. Reference: tony blair net worth.
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