Politics latest: Tony Blair 'still involved' in Middle East; Rwanda scheme resurfaces in unexpected fashion (2024)

A topic of conversation on Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge tonight is a new law which will see stiffer penalties for water companies - and possible jail sentences for their bosses if they don't deal with sewage.

It's also the main topic on our latest Daily podcast.

Niall Paterson spoke to business correspondent Paul Kelso,who was there, for his assessment of what it could meanfor the companies and bill payers.

Plus, as police investigating theGrenfell Tower fire warn it could be at least a year until they hand over evidence to prosecutors, Niall speaksto Chris Daw KC, author of Justice On Trial,on why it is going to take so long for the survivors and bereaved families to get justice.

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Deputy political editor Sam Coates has listened to tonight's interview with Sir Tony Blair twice now.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge, Sam thinks he may have spotted a warning for the current Labour prime minister from his political predecessor.

Sam highlights a section where Sophy asked the New Labour architect about whether Sir Keir Starmer was radical enough.

Sam points out Sir Tony "compared his government and Keir's government" and claimed the 1997 administration had a series of easy wins with things like independence of the Bank of England, changing the rules on gay rights, and introducing the mayor of London.

Sir Tony then compared these to Sir Keir's "missions", Sam says, and that success will depend on those missions.

Sam goes on: "That's not an endorsem*nt - each one of those things that [Sir Tony] did was a political risk, a huge political risk that he pushed through and got political credit for.

"And he's admitting that Keir Starmer doesn't have that kind of ambitious agenda.

"And he's saying, well, the missions will work if they work."

'A little bit of narcissism'

On a broader point, Sam says Sir Tony was advertising a "style" of government - building a good team - and then "telling Keir Starmer that's the model".

But our deputy political editor urged some scepticism, saying Sir Tony seemed to be advertising his institute that "sells help with governance to friendly - and other - governments all around the world".

"There was a little bit of, dare I say, narcissism in what we saw from Tony Blair today - because what he did was sit there and go: I know best, I'll tell you for a fee," Sam concludes.

For many, prime minister Sir Tony Blair's legacy is defined by his foreign policy decisions regarding the Middle East - most notably the Iraq war.

And he tells Sophy Ridge he's "still involved" in "quite a lot" regarding what's happening in the region now.

He was asked for his thoughts on Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who has found himself under increasing pressure from Western allies to do a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Sir Tony wouldn't comment on "individual leaders" as "that wouldn't be very helpful to what I'm doing".

Without elaborating on what his role is, the former Labour leader says: "The most important thing is that we get a ceasefire that's sustainable and that we find a path back to some concept of security for the Israelis and self-determination for the Palestinians."

Speaking to tonight'sPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridge, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair is asked about an increase of "strong man" or "macho" leaders.

Sir Tony says he is "worried" about the trend - and that it's important to understand why it's happening.

The former leader - who famously proposed a "third way" of UK politics and advocated a centrist position - said the reason for the increase was the lack of a "strong centre that's delivering".

But he defends the centre as not "the mushy middle between left and right", but rather "the place of solutions".

Sir Tony claims politics and political allegiances have become "more fractured" - and this will only continue as technology develops, reducing voters' traditional loyalties to certain parties.

'Solutions beat strongmen'

He says: "The other thing that's going to happen is that people are, if there are grievances, they are going to expect you to deal with them.

"And the centre has got to be the place that you deal with them."

Sir Tony says it is no good to just say various groups are "extreme" and try to manage the problem that way.

"If you want to defeat this sort of strongman populism, they're defeated by the solutions," he says.

By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter

Sir Tony Blair has warned that tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire cannot be completely avoided.

The former prime minister, who left office in 2007, said it was a "difficult thing to say", but that even when systems work well and are "well-intentioned", people are "going to make mistakes".

Sir Tony was asked whether he accepted that the tragedies of Grenfell, the infected blood scandal and the Post Office scandal meant there had been a "failure of leadership" in government.

"This is a difficult thing to say, but it's the honest truth - however good your system is and however well-intentioned it is, and however hard people work, they're going to make mistakes," he replied.

It's fair to say there are some challenges facing the country.

We spend more on debt interest payments than schools, taxes are at their highest level for 70 years, prisons are full, and according to the prime minister, the NHS isn't on its knees but on its face.

And that's just the UK.

Zoom out and look at the world as a whole, I can't remember a more precarious, unpredictable period in my lifetime.

We're crying out not just for leadership, but the right kind of leadership.

One former PM thinks he's got at least some answers.

Sir Tony Blair has written a book On Leadership, which presumably means he's not impressed with what he's seeing.

He's a man I'm sure every single one of you will have an opinion on.

Over the next several posts, you can read the highlights of my interview with him today.

Our weeknight politics showPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridgeis live.

You can watch on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

Sophy's guest tonight is former prime minister Sir Tony Blair.

WatchPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridgefrom Monday to Thursday on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

Across the Channel, a key figure you may remember from the Brexit years secured a new job today.

The EU's former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has been appointed French prime minister.

After facing weeks of pressure following the tumultuous French elections, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Mr Barnier to the post.

France has been in a state of flux since Mr Macron's party lost its majority in parliament amid a rise in seats for Marine Le Pen's far-right party.

Mr Barnier, who once described former UK prime minister Boris Johnson as a "bulldozer", led the EU's talks with Britain over its exit from the bloc from 2016 to 2021.

A man Starmer can do business with?

Ourinternational affairs editorDominic WaghorndescribedMr Barnier as "the bogeyman of the right of British politics".

And he could be someone Sir Keir Starmer can do business with, though most of the Labour leader's foreign policy dealings will still be with President Emmanuel Macron.

When Mr Barnier ran for president a few years ago, Dominic says he "took a pretty hard line" on immigration.

"That didn't win him friends on the left on either side of the Channel," he notes, "but it may make him more prepared to work with the UK on the cross-Channel migrants' boats crisis."

MPs will have the chance to vote on the government's plans to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

Lucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, announced earlier today a motion relating to the changes would be debated on 10 September.

Ourpolitical correspondentLiz Batesnoted that it's a motion rather than being a vote on actual legislation - so it's an indicator of how parliament feels rather than anything binding.

But it's still significant, she said, given it's one of the first things the government has put on the table in this new term.

Liz explained: "What it shows is maybe the new government was not prepared for the level of feeling, certainly within its party.

"It was one of Rachel Reeves's first announcements as chancellor.

"And it went down quite badly not just with the Tories and Liberal Dems, but also Labour MPs - who then went off for recess, back to their constituencies, and had lots of problems."

A reminder…

People in England and Wales not in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits will lose out under the policy.

It is expected to reduce the number of pensioners in receipt of the up to £300 payment by 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving around £1.4bn this year.

The change has been widely criticised by the Conservatives, despite Labour repeatedly claiming it is due to a £22bn "black hole" in finances left by the Tories.

For many, prime minister Sir Tony Blair's legacy is defined by his foreign policy decisions regarding the Middle East - most notably the Iraq war.

And he tells Sophy Ridge he's "still involved" in "quite a lot" regarding what's happening in the region now.

He was asked for his thoughts on Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who has found himself under increasing pressure from Western allies to do a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Sir Tony wouldn't comment on "individual leaders" as "that wouldn't be very helpful to what I'm doing".

Without elaborating on what his role is, the former Labour leader says: "The most important thing is that we get a ceasefire that's sustainable and that we find a path back to some concept of security for the Israelis and self-determination for the Palestinians."

Watch the interview in full onPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridgetonight at 7pm.