Guardian Unlimited
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2001/story/0,1414,562269,00.html
'Let us reorder
this world'
Michael White, political
editor
Wednesday October 3, 2001
The Guardian
Tony Blair yesterday
turned his battle against the terrorists who ravaged New York
into a far wider struggle for a new world order that would uphold
human dignity and social justice "from the slums of Gaza to the
mountain ranges of Afghanistan".
In what was almost
certainly the most powerful speech of his career, the prime
minister used his speech to the Labour conference to synthesise
an uncompromising hostility to Osama bin Laden's terrorist
network - and the Taliban if they do not give him up - with a
vaunting promise to remake the world as a better
place.
The sweep and moral
fervour of the 54-minute address caught friend and foe off guard.
There were no party political jibes and barely a triumphalist
mention of Labour's historic June 7 election victory. The
Conservatives damned the performance with faint
praise.
Evidently sensitive to
charges that he was sounding too confrontational, Mr Blair
acknowledged that many people are fearful of what lies ahead -
and sought to reassure voters whose unwavering support is vital
to a long campaign.
"Our way of life is a
great deal stronger and will last a greal deal longer than the
actions of fanatics, small in number and now facing a unified
world against them. People should have confidence. This is a
battle with only one outcome: our victory, not theirs," he
insisted.
Admitting his own
helplessness in the face of so much bereavement on September 11,
Mr Blair had earlier said of the dead: "They don't want revenge,
they want something better in memory of their loved ones. I
believe their memorial can and should be that out of the shadow
of this evil should emerge lasting good."
The speech, which was,
unusually, drafted by Mr Blair himself, also reflected his
private moral preoccupations to an unusual degree. But before a
largely secular audience it was repeatedly punctuated with bursts
of applause in the packed but sombre Brighton conference centre,
where the foreshortened 2001 conference ends today.
As the prime minister
sat down he was praised for his vision and tone by friends and
critics alike within Labour's ranks, though delegates may come
down to earth with a jolt when they size up to the challenges he
posed in the name of "the power of community" - local and global
- to do good.
"He didn't deal with the
whats and hows, but he certainly explained the why," said one
former cabinet member. Some leftwingers and trade unionists,
irked by the address's religiosity, called it "messianic" and
lacking commitment to the means of righting the world's
wrongs.
They were a minority.
"Brilliant," said a senior colleague after hearing his party
leader - famous for his regard for business tycoons - declare:
"The starving, the wretched, the dispossessed, the ignorant, they
are our cause too."
Throughout the day's
debates senior ministers, including Jack Straw, Geoff Hoon and
Clare Short, had stressed the importance of adhering to
international law in the search for justice - a point echoed by
the veteran Tony Benn in an emotional warning against the
"sorrows of war".
An end to famine,
poverty and corruption in Africa, as well as genocidal conflicts
such as Rwanda's, were only part of an agenda that foresaw the
world tackling such intractable problems as global warming and
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - an "equal partnership" side by
side in their own lands.
Though the back half of
Mr Blair's text addressed the domestic agenda - the need to put
improved public services before tax cuts - he repeatedly went out
of his way to reconcile Islam with the west, above all with
America.
For all its flaws the
US, where a black child of poverty such as Colin Powell could
rise to be secretary of state ("I wonder frankly whether such a
thing could have happened here") was still a model to the world,
he argued.
Nor had America lashed
out, as some had predicted: "no missiles on the first night just
for effect". When military strikes came they would be
"proportionate, targeted - we will do all we humanly can to avoid
civilian casualties".
While the west must
address its shameful ignorance of Islam, he later suggested, "it
is time also for parts of Islam to confront prejudice against
America" - not only Islam, but "parts of western societies too".
That was loudly applauded in a conference where such sentiments
have long existed.
But Mr Blair's
conciliatory and idealistic tone was not extended to the enemy of
the moment, whose version of Islam was "no more obedient to the
proper teachings of the Koran" than the crusaders of the Middle
Ages had exemplified the gospel message, he said.
"Be in no doubt Bin
Laden and his people organised this atrocity," Mr Blair insisted.
He offered no evidence, although he did suggest that terrorism
finances itself through Afghan heroin sold on the streets of
Britain.
His contempt for the
Taliban and their denial of human rights, especially for women,
was stinging. But he did not say, as Labour briefers had
indicated overnight, that it was already too late to avoid
military retribution.
"I say to the Taliban:
surrender the terrorist or surrender power. It's your
choice."
Mr Blair's pledge to
defeat the "act of evil" that destroyed the World Trade Centre -
"if they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000 does anyone
doubt they would have done so and rejoiced?" - was only the
trailer to a declaration that globalisation made cooperation
between nations and cultures imperative.
"This is a moment to
seize," he said. "The kaleidoscope has been shaken, the pieces
are in flux, soon they will settle again. Before they do let us
reorder this world around us and use modern science to provide
prosperity for all.
"Science can't make that
choice for us, only the moral power of a world acting as a
community can."
TONY BLAIR 'REBORN' UNDER THE 'SACRED SERPENT' IN NEW AGE
CEREMONY
The Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001580636,00.html
SATURDAY DECEMBER 15
2001
Cherie stops
Blair being stick in the mud
BY TOM BALDWIN, DEPUTY
POLITICAL EDITOR
THEY rubbed fruits and
mud over each other’s bodies. They screamed and went
through a “rebirth”. Then they made a wish for world
peace.
All in all, it made a
change from everyday life for a nice English couple, Tony and
Cherie, trying a New Age experience on the Mexican Riviera. They
emerged refreshed even though the bit about world peace did not
really work out.
It seems that the Prime
Minister and his family had quite a holiday in August as they
relaxed, for once, away from the glare of publicity. Journalists
who accompanied them on a trade mission to Latin America were
told only that the Blairs were staying behind for a private
family holiday near the tropical resort of
Cancún.
However, the Maroma
Hotel, where rooms can cost up to $1,260 (£865) a night, has
since proudly displayed a picture of the Blairs above its
reception desk. Staff still talk about the
“wonderful” experience of caring for Britain’s
Prime Minister and his wife, who mixed amiably with other guests
and tipped generously.
During their stay at the
hotel, the Blairs were particularly impressed by the Temazcal, a
Mayan steam bath, where they took part in a “rebirthing
ritual” wearing nothing but their swimming
costumes.
Mrs Blair, whose
enthusiasm for New Age and alternative therapies is well known,
initially went to the Temazcal on her own. But she so enjoyed the
experience that she persuaded a slightly shy Prime Minister to
join her the next evening.
The ceremony took place
at dusk: Mr Blair and his wife, wearing bathing costumes, were
led to the Temazcal, a brick-coloured pyramid on the south end of
the beach.
According to the hotel
brochure: “The Temazcal ritual is equally beneficial for
the mind and spirit. Led by Nancy Aguilar, the participants are
invited to meditate, feel at one with Mother Earth and experience
inner feelings and visions.”
Ms Aguilar told the
Blairs to bow and pray to the four winds as Mayan prayers were
read out. Each side of the building is decorated with Mayan
religious symbols: the sun and baby lizards representing spring
and childhood; a bird to signify adolescence, summer and freedom;
a crab to represent maturity and autumn; and a serpent —
the most sacred in the Mayan Indian culture — to symbolise
winter and transformation.
All that is even before
you get inside. Within the Temazcal, a type of Ancient Mayan
steam bath, herb-infused water was thrown over heated lava rocks,
to create a cleansing sweat and balance the Blairs’
“energy flow”.
Ms Aguilar chanted Mayan
songs, told the Blairs to imagine that they could see animals in
the steam and explained what such visions meant.
They were told the
Temazcal was like the womb and those participating in the ritual
must confront their hopes and fears before “rebirth”
and venturing outside. The Blairs were offered water melon and
papaya, then told to smear what they did not eat over each
other’s bodies along with mud from the Mayan jungle
outside.
The Prime Minister, on
holiday just a month before the September 11 attacks, is
understood to have made a wish for world peace.
Before leaving, the
Blairs were told to scream out loud to signify the pain of
rebirth. They then walked hand-in-hand down the beach to swim in
the sea.
Despite being a Roman
Catholic, Mrs Blair has had a long interest in alternative
therapies. She has been photographed wearing an acupuncture
needle in the top of her ear as well as a “bio-electric
shield” pendant filled with “magic crystals” to
ward off harmful rays from computers and mobile phones. She has
also been a client of Bharti Vyas, the New Age guru, whose
holistic therapy centre in London she officially opened last
month.
However, the involvement
of her husband in such matters has previously been unknown. Those
close to him suggested yesterday that he “probably went
along with it to please Cherie”. A Downing Street spokesman
said yesterday: “I’ve no idea whether all this is
true. The Prime Minister, as you know, is in Belgium for the
European summit. However, what I can tell you is that, like any
other couple on holiday abroad, they enjoyed doing what the
Romans do.”
Or indeed, the Ancient
Mayans.
The Guardian (UK)
Jan. 27, 2004
[New Age] Quack addicts
By Francis Wheen
Cherie and Tony bonding in a muddy Mayan ritual - it's the
ultimate example of how mumbo-jumbo has inundated Britain, writes
Francis Wheen in this final extract from his fascinating new
book
Everyone was at it. In Britain, allegedly the home of the stiff
upper lip, the loopier manifestations of soul-baring may have
been mocked but managerial mumbo-jumbo found an eager market. By
1995 the British government was spending well over £100m a
year on management consultants, as branches of officialdom were
forcibly transformed into "agencies". What had once been
straightforward public services, such as the health system or the
BBC, acquired their own internal markets - which in turn created
new blizzards of paperwork and extra layers of bureaucracy, all
in the name of efficiency ...
Tony Blair had never concealed his reverence for management
gurus. In the summer of 1996 he dispatched 100 Labour
frontbenchers to a weekend seminar at Templeton College, Oxford,
where a posse of partners from Andersen Consulting lectured the
wannabe ministers on "total quality service" and "the management
of change". (The veteran Labour politician Lord Healey, who also
spoke at the event, was unimpressed: "These management
consultants are just making money out of suckers.") When Blair
entered Downing Street, several executives from Andersen - and
McKinsey, the other leading management consultancy - were
seconded to Whitehall with a brief to practise "blue skies
thinking". Soon afterwards, in perhaps the most remarkable
manifestation of New Labour's guru-worship, they were joined by
[lateral thinker] Dr Edward de Bono, whose task was "to develop
bright ideas on schools and jobs".
In the autumn of 1998 more than 200 officials from the Department
of Education were treated to a lecture from De Bono on his "Six
Thinking Hats system" of decision-making. The idea, he explained,
was that civil servants should put on a red hat when they wanted
to talk about hunches and instincts, a yellow hat if they were
listing the advantages of a project, a black hat while playing
devil's advocate, and so on. "Without wishing to boast," he
added, "this is the first new way of thinking to be developed for
2,400 years since the days of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle." So
far as can be discovered, the education department has yet to
order those coloured hats, but no doubt it benefited from his
other creative insights: "You can't dig a hole in a different
place by digging the same hole deeper"; "With a problem, you look
for a solution"; "A bird is different from an aeroplane, although
both fly through the air."
Gurus are safe enough while peddling ancient cliches disguised as
revolutionary new strategies. It is when they seek out instances
of this wisdom in action that they come a cropper: the
entrepreneur-as-hero often turns out to be merely human after
all. In his 1985 book Tactics: The Art and Science of Success, De
Bono offered the lessons that might be learned from a number of
people who "would generally be regarded as 'successful'." After
studying these inspiring examples, "The reader should say, 'Why
not me?"' The millionaires he extolled included Robert Maxwell,
subsequently exposed as one of the most outrageous fraudsters in
British history.
Even the no-nonsense Margaret Thatcher was a devotee of mystical
"electric baths" and Ayurveda therapy. But she was a mere dabbler
compared with more recent inhabitants of Downing Street. Cherie
Blair found her devout Catholicism no impediment to flirtations
with New Age spirituality - inviting a feng-shui expert to
rearrange the furniture at No 10 and wearing a "magic pendant"
known as the BioElectric Shield, which has "a matrix of specially
cut quartz crystals" that surround the wearer with "a cocoon of
energy" to ward off evil forces.
The catholicism - if not Catholicism - of her tastes was further
demonstrated in 2002 by the revelation that she employed a former
member of the Exegesis cult, Carole Caplin, as a "lifestyle
guru". Through Caplin, the prime minister's wife was introduced
to an 86-year-old "dowsing healer", Jack Temple, who treated her
swollen ankles by swinging a crystal pendulum over the affected
area and feeding her strawberry leaves grown within the
"electro-magnetic field" of a neolithic circle he had built in
his back garden.
It was long assumed that Tony Blair, who wears his Christianity
on his sleeve, did not share his wife's unorthodox enthusiasms.
But that was before he and Cherie had a "rebirthing experience"
under the supervision of one Nancy Aguilar while holidaying on
the Mexican Riviera in the summer of 2001. The Times's detailed
account of the prime ministerial mudbath is worth quoting at some
length:
"Ms Aguilar told the Blairs to bow and pray to the four winds as
Mayan prayers were read out ... Within the Temazcal, a type of
Ancient Mayan steam bath, herb-infused water was thrown over
heated lava rocks, to create a cleansing sweat and balance the
Blairs' 'energy flow'.
"Ms Aguilar chanted Mayan songs, told the Blairs to imagine that
they could see animals in the steam and explained what such
visions meant. They were told the Temazcal was like the womb and
those participating in the ritual must confront their hopes and
fears before 'rebirth' and venturing outside. The Blairs were
offered watermelon and papaya, then told to smear what they did
not eat over each other's bodies along with mud from the Mayan
jungle outside.
"The prime minister, on holiday just a month before the 11
September attacks, is understood to have made a wish for world
peace. Before leaving, the Blairs were told to scream out loud to
signify the pain of rebirth. They then walked hand in hand down
the beach to swim in the sea."
Although Mayan rebirthing rituals are not yet available in
Britain through the National Health Service, some of Cherie
Blair's other peculiar obsessions have already been adopted as
official policy. In January 1999 the government recruited a
feng-shui consultant, Renuka Wickmaratne, for advice on how to
improve inner-city council estates. "Red and orange flowers would
reduce crime," she concluded, "and introducing a water feature
would reduce poverty. I was brought up with this ancient
knowledge."
Two years later, the government announced that, for the first
time since the creation of the NHS, remedies such as acupuncture
and Indian ayurvedic medicine could be granted the same status as
conventional treatments. According to the Sunday Times, "The
inclusion of Indian ayurvedic medicine, a preventative approach
to healing using diet, yoga and meditation, is thought to have
been influenced by Cherie Blair's interest in alternative
therapy." An all too believable suggestion, since Cherie was a
client of the ayurvedic guru Bharti Vyas and officiated at the
opening ceremony for her holistic therapy centre in London.
The swelling popularity of quack potions and treatments in recent
years is yet another manifestation of the retreat from reason and
scientific method. According to a 1998 survey by the Journal of
the American Medical Association, the use of homeopathic
preparations in the United States more than doubled between 1990
and 1997. In Britain, by the end of the 20th century the
country's 36,000 general practitioners were outnumbered by the
50,000 purveyors of complementary and alternative medicine - some
of whom receive the seal of royal approval.
The Queen carries homeopathic remedies with her at all times.
Princess Diana was a devotee of reflexology, the belief that
pressure applied to magical "zones" in the hands and feet can
heal ailments elsewhere in the body. Prince Charles has been a
prominent champion of "holistic" treatments since 1982.
Most alternative therapies, homeopathy included, are closer to
mysticism than to medicine. This may explain their appeal to the
British royal family, whose survival depends on another
irrational faith - the magic of hereditary monarchy, so fiercely
debunked by Tom Paine and other Enlightenment pamphleteers.
• Francis Wheen's How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World: A
Short History of Modern Delusions is published by 4th Estate.
Francis Wheen will be appearing at Foyles bookshop in London on
Thursday March 11 at 6.30pm. For further details call 0870 420
2777.
The Sunday Herald (UK)
Mar. 7, 2004
[Carole Caplin] When you take advice from a new age fashion
guru what do you expect?
By James Cusick
Former boyfriends claims ahead of his book cause headache for
Number 10
The abuse which today will begin raining down on the head of
Peter Foster should come as no surprise to a convicted conman. In
fact, Foster, now living in Australia, will be delighted at the
effects his allegations are having at the other end of the
world.
After all, advice on how to publicise a new book is much the same
today as when Samuel Johnson said: Its better a man should be
abused than be forgotten.”
Foster told an Australian newspaper: The heart of my book is the
extraordinary influence that Carole has over Tony.
People think that Cherie is the ugly duckling who Carole advised
with clothes and make-up and styling. The truth is that Tony
relied on Carole too.”
He added: The intensity and the closeness of their relationship
was something I saw and I was amazed by and annoyed
by.”
Fosters allegation about the true relationship”, between
his former fiancée, Carole Caplin, and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, has understandably been dismissed by Downing
Street as publicity for his book”. But the alarm bells that
rang in Number 10 during the run-up to Christmas 2002 when
Cheriegate was in full swing, will be ringing again.
As a former Downing Street aide said last night: Invite a former
topless model and New Age fashion guru into your household, take
lifestyle advice from her and well ... what do you expect?”
The view from one Number 10 source is that Caplin, alone, was
acceptable as a friend of the Blairs. But when she took up with
Foster, a convicted fraudster, it was seen as a risk too far.
The control freaks inside Number 10 – especially Blair
himself and his former Director of Communications Alastair
Campbell – did not defuse the potential timebomb, a lapse
of judgement that has now come back to haunt Downing Street.
In July 2002, when Foster and Caplin met and fell for each other,
Caplin had already enjoyed long access to the Blairs. Cherie
Blair met Caplin at a gym in 1992. By 1994, when the new Labour
leaders wife was juggling children, her career as a leading
barrister and the responsibility of becoming a prime ministers
wife, she took on Caplin as her adviser on fitness, fashion and
probably feng shui.
Caplins influence is said to have extended to Tony Blair in the
small matter of tie selection and sartorial presentation. Foster,
in his accusations, goes much much further. She picked his
clothes, right down to his underpants.”
Back in July 2002, Caplins position at the centre of the Blair
court, would have been alluring to Foster. His past exploits
included selling imaginary boxing matches featuring Mohammed Ali
in Australia and serial offences in the fake slimming pills
market. He was not slow to spot an opportunity to sell himself to
Caplin.
The relationship between someone like Foster and a woman so close
to Cherie Blair should have alarmed Downing Street. However, the
past exploits of Caplins new beau seemed initially at least to
have rung few warning bells in Number 10.
Fosters past could certainly not be hidden. He had a bankruptcy
record in Australia; had defrauded an insurance company; and,
since first coming to the UK in 1986, he had promoted bogus
slimming substances. That had led to jail, fines, deportation and
extradition to the UK from Australia to face fraud charges. He
had also been a regular subject of investigations by the BBCs
Thats Life programme.
Cheriegate’’, as it was dubbed by the press, was a
disaster waiting to happen. When Cherie Blair had concealed and
was then forced to admit Fosters help in her acquisition of two
Bristol flats at the end of 2002, it was a political nightmare
for Number 10 that was intense and short-lived. You might have
expected that the Blairs’ relationship with Caplin would
have been brought to an abrupt end.
But in the summer of 2003, Caplins influence over Cherie Blair
was evidently still there when Marie Claire magazine sent a
reporter and photographer to do a feature on the PMs wife. It
photographed Cherie and her friend sitting on the edge of the
Blairs matrimonial bed, Caplin applying lip-gloss to Cheries
mouth.
Fiona Millar, Alastair Campbells partner, had been Cheries diary
secretary since the Blairs first entered Number 10 in 1997. (She
began working for Cherie in 1995 on Alastair Campbells
recommendation.) Millar also unofficially looked after Cheries
press coverage, effectively ensuring it was minimal and
positive.
The Marie Claire piece highlighted a glaring problem. Millar had
lost all control over Cherie. Despite the scandal of
Cheriegate” Caplin was still enjoying open access to
Downing Street.
All trust between Cherie and Millar is said to have evaporated in
the months after the affair.
Although Foster had gone back to Australia and was no longer
Caplins fiancee, Caplin herself was still being seen in and
around Downing Street seven months after Cheriegate.
The Blairs in the autum of 2003 had had a tough year. Having
survived the criticisms of going to war in Iraq, the summer row
with the BBC and its reporter Andrew Gilligan and the suicide of
Dr David Kelly in mid-July, the coming Hutton Inquiry was going
to make the rest of the year no political easy ride.
Tensions inside Downing Street are reported to have been very
high. The Marie Claire piece was said to have finally confirmed
to Millar that her decision (taken in May 2003) to leave Downing
Street was a piece of good timing. Campbell, during the Hutton
Inquiry, announced he would going too.
Caplin was still seen as a continuing risk. In September of last
year, any notion that Carole Caplin was an acceptable risk to the
Blair was dispelled.Her access to Downing Street and to Chequers
was halted. Inside Downing Street a decision had been taken to
end the “public” appearance of Carole Caplin as a
person with influence inside the court of the Blairs. However it
is understood that a relationship – at a distance –
continued.
Carole Caplan is still in contact with the Blairs and is still
bound by the lengthy legal agreement she signed not to divulge
any of the secrets she holds about life inside Downing
Street.
Further Reading:
In Focus (Bro. Tom Hanks, etc.)
F.·.W.·. Magazine || 9/11: The Archive
- The 'Lighter' Side of the New World Order?
