Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s think tank collaborates with and receives payments from several authoritarian countries in the Middle East. According to the think tank, this will help countries implement modernization programs and respond to climate change.
Former leader of the British Labor Party, Tony Blair, served as British Prime Minister from 1998 to 2007. After leaving office, he founded the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), a think tank.
The think tank’s website says its slogan is cooperation with political leaders to implement changes. At the same time, The Telegraph newspaper reports that the think tank receives payments from authoritarian Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Over the past year, TBI’s revenue from foreign governments has increased by 50%.
In Bahrain, the former British prime minister’s think tank supports the country’s so-called modernization programme. After large-scale protests erupted in the country in 2011, the government imprisoned many opposition leaders and social leaders.
The think tank also collaborates with the government of Saudi Arabia. In 2018, The Telegraph revealed that TBI was receiving £9m from Riyadh for its consultancy services. However, according to the think tank, the entire contract is non-profit.
In August 2023, it was revealed that Tony Blair’s think tank continued to collaborate with Saudi Arabia even after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of the Saudi government, of which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman he was often accused of ordering. The latter denies these accusations.
The think tank’s collaboration with Ar-Riyadh comes as the current British government seeks to deepen economic ties with Saudi Arabia to attract investment to the UK.
TBI also provides consultancy to the UAE both free and for a fee. Ahead of the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, Tony Blair met with the summit’s chairman, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.
The UAE has also been accused of violating the human rights of migrant workers from South Asia and spying on political opponents using Pegasus spyware.
A TBI spokesperson told the Telegraph that the former British prime minister’s think tank is involved in supporting Bahrain’s modernization programme.
He also said that cooperation with the UAE in the field of climate occurred on a pro bono basis.
“We have provided strategic and policy expertise to support COP28 because we want to support real change. We have not asked for or received payment for our support,” the spokesperson said.
However, TBI confirmed that it receives commissions from the UAE for consultancy services in areas other than climate.
2024-01-02 15:06:00
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