Alistair Campbell on Gaza role: Blairs ‘heart is in the right place’ – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

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This interview was recorded on Friday October 3rd after President Trump gave Hamas a Friday ultimatum for that day.

Accept the ceasefire by Sunday October 5th or in his words, “All hell will break loose.”

The plan seeks to remove Hamas from power in Gaza with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair leading reconstruction.

Micheal Prendergast spoke with Blair’s former communications director Alistister Campbell in an exclusive interview Al Arabiya News aired on Monday October 6th.

Watch the full interview live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCEFm9oHX70

On Alistair’s thoughts if Blair is the right person for the job with the Gaza role?

“I say there are lots of complicated issues that arise from every single point in this 20 point plan, I think we’re a long way from that happening.

“I do know Tony Blair very very well and I think he is very well suited to the challenges that would come from the sort of role that’s being talked about.

“Partly the Northern Ireland experience, partly also just his experience as a public figure, somebody who’s incredibly intelligent, very focused on detail in any complex process that he’s involved in.”

Is Blair a controversial figure?

“Yes, he’s a controversial figure, but it’s very rare in the modern age in particular that anybody who has held a high-profile position for a long time is not controversial. And I guess the controversy in relation to the Middle East, people will say, well, that focuses on his role in particular in Afghanistan and Iraq in supporting the Americans there.

“But what all I would say is that Tony Blair is not one of those politicians who kind of left office and then just sort of, you know, gone off to make lots of money. He’s he’s he’s done that for sure, but he’s done that so that he can run the institute that he runs and also so that he can stay involved in some of these really difficult complex situations.”

On Alistair’s advice to the current Prime Minister Keir Starmer

“I think the government could communicate better. There’s no doubt about that. But, you know, and again, the landscape for communication is a lot more complicated than it was when I was around. There was no social media.

“I think I would say be bold and be there was no social media 24/7 news was really just starting as opposed to now when it’s kind of omniresent and proliferation of channels. I also think the public have become not least because of social media becoming maybe more demanding, less forgiving, less understanding, less tolerant to politicians.

“But I would see I would say be bolder and be more confident. You know, you got a big majority. Use it to deliver the change that you said you were going to do and be bold and confident in how you go about that.”

Should Donald Trump get a Nobel Peace Price?

“He fought a [election] campaign in talking about ending wars, ending these forever wars. I certainly see somebody who has got this obsession with winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but I think when he talks about the conflicts that he says he’s ended, I think there are I think life’s a bit more complicated than that.

“Now I think if you go through those and ask yourself honestly, have things improved? Have the expectations that Donald Trump set when he became president been met? Then I think it’s hard to answer that in the affirmative.

“I mean the short answer is is that should if an enduring peace comes to the Middle East and if we end up with a situation where Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully and in harmony side by side then a lot of people who have made brought that about will be worthy  nominees for all the prizes going okay why I say it doesn’t the motivation is that he reveals virtually every time he speaks about this an obsession with winning a prize.

“I remember Bill Clinton used to say that sometimes you see politicians and they think they need a blue ribbon for the job. The job is the blue ribbon. You’re the most powerful person in the world. You’ve got an awful lot of power that you can put to good use. Focus on that rather than worrying about whether five people in Norway because that’s what it is, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, whether five people in Norway decide that your claim to the Nobel Peace Prize is greater or lesser than somebody else. I just think it’s a distortion of a debate about something incredibly important.”

Should Tony Blair be given a Nobel Peace Prize?

“Well, same answer, same question. Tony Blair’s role in Northern Ireland was heroic and historic. I think that matters more than whether you get this award or that award. I really do.

“When Tony Blair was doing the Northern Ireland peace process, as it happens, as you know, John Hume and David Trimble, John from the SDLP and David from the Unionist side, they did win the Nobel Peace Prize. And yeah, that was a good thing and it was thoroughly deserved.

“But I think the idea that that’s the motivation for doing this is just all wrong. And it suggests to me a frankly a debate we shouldn’t even be having. And this is why I think a lot of people do question the motivation. Peace to the Middle East. Does the motivation matter? If he brings about peace, does he deserve it? Well, that’s down to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and you know lots of people will get nominated in my view.”

On Nigel Farage, Reform, Kemi Badenoch and the Tories

“I think his relative success [Nigel Farage’s], and I wouldn’t overstate it, he’s doing pretty well in the polls at the moment. And he’s doing so because he is picking up an awful lot of support from people who are just frankly think the Conservatives totally lost the plot, which they did, which is why they got hammered in the last election. and he’s picking up some support, less than from the tries, but some support from people who were Labour and wanted more from Labor when they came into power.

“But there’s a long way to go to the election. And I think that there are so many the more Nigel Farage starts to think he could be prime minister and the more that the public start to think that might be a realistic option, the more that the scrutiny and the pressure will be applied and over three years I will happily come back and talk to you in three years time. And if he’s still soaring in the polls to use your phrase, I’d be surprised. But we’ll see.”



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