Tag: Tony Blair

The below speech was made by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on foreign affairs on Tuesday 15th December 1998.

I have said before that though Britain will never be the mightiest nation on earth, we can be pivotal.

It means building on the strengths of our history; it means building new alliances; developing new influence; charting a new course for British foreign policy.

It means realising once and for all that Britain does not have to choose between being strong with the US, or strong with Europe; it means having the confidence to see that Britain can be both. Indeed, that Britain must be both; that we are stronger with the US because of our strength in Europe; that we are stronger in Europe because of our strength with the US.

When I launched recently the debate on a new role for Europe in defence, there was an instant rush to judgement in some parts that this would lead to a weakening of the transatlantic alliance. On the contrary, this has been welcomed in the US, by the Administration and others.

As that debate unfolds, and I welcome the support expressed in Vienna at the weekend for our initiative with the French, then it is one in which I will ensure the Americans are fully engaged.

Britain’s relationship with the US has been fundamental to our foreign policy throughout this century. Twice the US have come to our help to preserve democracy and freedom in Europe. We battled together throughout the Cold War. We have stood shoulder to shoulder in NATO. We were at the core of the successful coalition in the Gulf War. We remain absolutely together in our analysis of the continuing dangers posed by Saddam Hussein and our determination not to allow him Weapons of Mass Destruction, on which Richard Butler is due to report to the Security Council in the next day or so.

In the economic field, Americans and British have defended free and open markets around the world, and the establishment of a rule-based international trade system. We do not always see eye to eye – most recently on bananas – but our underlying principles are the same. The links between our two economies extend into all areas – two-way trade is expected to be £50 billion this year. Including services, the US is easily Britain’s largest export market. Britain is the main direct investor in the US with almost $150 billion, providing employment for almost one million Americans. 40% of US investment in the EU comes to Britain.

All this is underpinned by deep-rooted commitment to political pluralism and freedom, by the myriad personal and cultural ties between the British and American peoples, and by two societies comfortable with each other. We remain very distinct and different countries in so many ways, as anyone who knows both can readily testify. But people travelling in both directions find a warmth and a welcome, and an ease of communication, that make them feel instantly at home.

I value this closeness, and the richness of its bindings. It is language, history, shared values, friendship. It is much more than sentimentality. A hard-headed assessment of the value of good relations with the one remaining superpower would lead us to good relations anyway. But I also believe America at its best is a powerful force for good in the world; one of a few countries willing and able to stand up for what it believes. It is right for us to be close and for that relationship to work for the fundamental principles we both believe in.

But to say that does not for one second negate the importance of Britain being a strong and leading player in Europe.

I made very clear, before the election, that a new Government would mean a new approach in Europe. The last Government, despite what I believe were the best intentions of the last Prime Minister, allowed Britain to be taken to the margins of Europe.

We are in the European Union because it is the right place to be. And as we are in, it is time we started winning arguments, rather than running away from them.

The logical conclusion of the Euro-sceptic approach that says everything that comes out of Europe is bad; that says Europe is something that is done to us, rather than something that we can shape; is to get out of Europe altogether. That would at least be an honest intellectual position. But it would be a disaster for British jobs, British trade, British influence in the world.

Far better is to be in there, engage in the arguments, and win the arguments.

There are two forms of Euro-scepticism. The first, for which I have no time, looks at anything that happens in Europe as an excuse to be anti-European. It was a minority sport in the last Government. It is where, sadly, the majority in today’s Conservative Party seems to be.

The second, more intelligent scepticism, realises Europe is of vital importance to Britain, but is anxious about the direction Europe is taking. It fears, if I am again being frank, that because centre and centre left governments are now in the ascendancy in Europe, there will be a return of old Labour.

But again, people should have confidence in their own arguments. I have always believed that over time, the right arguments win in politics.

Enterprise and fairness. That is what we stand for. That is the argument we promote.

My vision for New Labour is to become, as the Liberal Party was in the 19th Century, a broad coalition of those who believe in progress and justice, not a narrow class-based politics, but a Party founded on clear values, whose means of implementation change with the generations.

Enterprise and fairness together. The third way; and those of you who report beyond these shores know that it is striking a chord right around Europe. It is a reflection of the lack of confidence I referred to that the extent of the debate on the third way generated around Europe is barely covered here at home.

We won with the landslide we secured not just because the last Government was discredited but because we combined policies of economic rigour, fiscal and monetary stability, with the insight that the market alone cannot deliver social justice; but that the answer lay not in tax and spend policies, but in an agenda that tackles youth and long-term unemployment, as we are doing through the New Deal, that promotes education, lifelong learning, a skills revolution; that invests in small businesses, technology and infrastructure.

Again, the unintelligent scepticism warned that because the new Government planned to sign the Social Chapter, we would put at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs, up to one million, some Tories said. But with Britain as part of the Social Chapter, there has been no new legislation put through at all. Another scare story bites the dust.

The Employment Chapter of the Amsterdam Treaty was another example. Dire warnings about the business-threatening regulatory approach were issued. What happened? We and others argued our case for the economic reform agenda, and we won that argument.

The unintelligent scepticism saw the beef ban as an excuse to declare war on the rest of Europe. Where did it get us? Nowhere. No nearer getting the ban lifted. No nearer getting help for farmers.

We called off the war, stepped up the diplomacy, spelled out the facts, patiently, robustly, built up the alliances, and got the ban lifted.

In advance of Vienna, alliances had to be built – on employment and economic reform issues with the Spanish, on tax with the Germans, on social policy with the Swedes, on defence with the French, on duty free goods with the French, the Germans and others. We built those alliances, we engaged in those arguments, and we protected and promoted our national interests.

And today I read, in the front page headlines of one of our broadsheets, that being positive and constructive in Europe, amounts to me issuing orders to the Government to “bat for Brussels.” So that when I say to the Government – get close to our allies in Europe, I am somehow batting for Brussels. I see it as batting for Britain.

I will pursue this new approach in Europe not because it is in Europe’s interests but because it is in Britain’s interests.

We have deluded ourselves for too long with the false choice between the US and Europe. We live in a global economy, and an interdependent world. Nations must maximise their influence wherever they can. To be a country of our size and population, and to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a nuclear power, a leading player in NATO, a leading player in the Commonwealth, gives us huge advantages which we must exploit to the full.

Our membership of the EU gives us huge advantages too, and we must exploit those to the full as well. It requires a new maturity in our relations with Europe. This new Government will deliver that new maturity, and Britain will be the winner from it.

The speech below was made by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in his constituency of Sedgefield on Friday 14th November 1997.

I am delighted to be back in my constituency at such an exciting and important event. Sedgefield is one of the pioneers of the sustainable communities’ project.

Britain will never be a modern, forward-looking country if it is a place whose beauty, character, air, rivers, are polluted, defaced, and contaminated.

To be modern is to be green. It is about seeking new solutions to new environmental challenges. Not just so that future generations have a planet that is still inhabitable but so that all of us going about our lives today can improve our quality of life. And it is about working with business to ensure that our companies and industry are able to take advantage of the huge opportunities that markets for new technologies offer. Many businesses already recognise that this agenda is an opportunity not a threat.

It is also about recognising that we will only succeed if we work together. Individuals, business, communities and government must all act if we are to meet these new challenges. Communities such as Sedgefield are taking the lead.

Today we have all seen examples of people and communities who have decided to take effective and practical action to change their lifestyles so that they benefit and the environment benefits. I am particularly pleased that so many different businesses and organisations have been involved, from Northumbrian Water, to the library, from Fujitsu to local schools, working together in partnership. I hope that many more local communities will take up the challenge.

And I welcome Going for Green’s “Eco-Cal” initiative – a computer based tool to help people measure how green their lifestyle is. It encourages people to recycle, to walk more, to turn their thermostats down, to wash their car with a bucket not a hose.

It will help all of us save money on our energy bills, improve the quality of our local environment-in short how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Small changes can collectively make a big difference to energy use. There are so many simple things that can be done when you realise the waste that occurs in our daily lives;

Every nine months households generate enough waste to fill Lake Windermere.

A third of household waste is packaging.

Hosing a car for ten minutes uses almost 100 litres of water.

Leaving a computer screen on all night uses enough power to print 800 pages of A4 paper.

Lighting an empty office overnight is equivalent to making 1,000 cups of coffee.

What these facts show is that working towards a greener country doesn’t require a PhD in bio-chemistry merely a degree of common sense and thought.

Well over half of all journeys are less than 5 miles and if we did more of them on foot or by bike rather than by car we would save ourselves money, avoid causing pollution and make ourselves a bit healthier – in short improve our quality of life.

Our job as a government is to encourage local action of this sort but also to take a lead ourselves.

Since May 1 we have done just that.

In a few short months we have:

Set tough targets on leakage for water companies to meet.

Given £3m to the Iwokrama rainforest in Guyana.

Published a White paper on international development committing Britain to sustainable development.

But I want to do more. I want to tackle head on the serious and growing pressures on the country’s transport systems.

We cannot carry on as we are. We know the problem. Congestion in our cities is increasing. At times there is complete log-gam. Pollution, noise, personal frustration, road rage, as well as extra costs and inconvenience is the result.

That is why we are undertaking a fundamental review of transport policy so that we have an integrated transport policy that makes public transport a real and attractive alternative.

Of course many people will always want to use their car. Often their livelihood depends on it. That is why we must take advantage of new technological advances to ensure that we minimise the adverse environmental impact of car use.

Firstly we will provide £5m of grant funding to be matched by industry funds to help industry and academia work together to develop vehicles that are more environmental friendly through the foresight Vehicle Link programme.

I want us to find new ways of making car use greener.

So I have asked Ian McAllister of Fords, president of the society of Motor Manufacturers, to join with Gavin Strang in setting up a partnership between government and the private sector to find ways of making it easier for the public to switch to greener vehicles, more fuel efficient vehicles.

I want people to be able to make real choices, and choosing an environmentally friendly car should be a real cost-effective alternative. We need new attitudes, so that more drivers think green.

We are also taking action on air quality.

Our first step will be to put in place a National Air Quality Strategy. We will give local authorities the tools they need to assess air quality and devise strategies to deal with problem areas. Local authorities in seven areas are going to be given the powers to carry out roadside checks on vehicles to make sure that all vehicles are up to standard. If this is successful it will be extended throughout the country.

Second, we are going to make information about air quality easier to understand, so that people will be able to judge us on the progress we make.

And we will also use the opportunity of our Presidency in the EU next year to make progress on reaching agreements to ensure that cars, vans and lorries sold throughout the EU minimise their emissions.

This government’s lead is not just about what we can do in Britain but how we can influence the international community.

The government is convinced of the need to tackle the factors which contribute to climate change. Many of you will be aware that Sir Robert May, the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser published a report in October which showed the evidence is now clear.

At current trends carbon dioxide will be present in the atmosphere at twice pre-industrial levels by the middle of the next century and still rising. The IPPC predict this would mean an average global temperature rise of about 2.5° by the end of the next century. This could lead to a rise in sea levels of up to 50cm on average causing widespread flooding of low lying coastal areas.

It is a global problem and needs a global solution. The Kyoto conference in December is an opportunity to show that we and other developed countries are serious about taking this challenge on. We are in the forefront of efforts to secure a successful outcome at Kyoto. John Prescott has done sterling work in the negotiations so far and will continue to play a key role in the next few weeks to press for progress. We are urging all developed countries to agree to take on serious targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

I do not underestimate the challenges that we face in securing a meaningful agreement. But I also say that we should not underestimate the potential threat that climate change poses and it is vital that developed countries take the lead in reducing emissions.

The message of today is that local action by individuals and national action by government can work together to make sure that progress today does not mean a degraded environment tomorrow.

Britain is the country of Constable and Turner; of rural dreams and seaside holidays; of the Lake District and spectacular coastlines; the prettiest villages and the most vibrant cities.

To be modern is to make our historic love of the countryside and of nature a modern day commitment to protect and sustain our environment. In Sedgefield today and Kyoto in December we see two ways in which we, the British people, can made an important start.

The below speech was made to the CBI Conference at Birmingham on Tuesday 11th November 1997 by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Two years ago when I last addressed the CBI’s National conference, I promised a new partnership between New Labour and business. Six months into office, we have laid the foundations of that partnership.

There are business people bringing their experience and expertise by serving in Government, on Advisory Groups, leading task forces, all contributing to the success of Government policy. But there is also great commitment and enthusiasm, right across the Government, for gorging links with the business community. That this is the approach of a Labour government is of historic importance. It demonstrates we are entering a new era in British politics.

I have described my approach to the development of government economic and industrial policy as the pursuit of a third Way between the laissez-faire of the last 20 years, and the model of statist and corporatist policies that used to be fashionable on the left. Neither of these approaches, new Right or old Left, fits the modern world.

The third way recognises a new and different role for Government. Not as director but as enabling of wealth generation. Not trying to run industry or protect it from proper competition; but stepping in, where the market fails, to equip business and industry to compete better in that market. And the market today is global. Technology, travel, communication, financial services are shrinking the world.

It will require us, as a nation, constantly to adapt and change. The third way is to try to construct a partnership between Government and business to help us cope with change and success in the face of its challenge.

Margaret Beckett set out this morning the progress she’s made on building a partnership between the DTI and business to promote competitiveness. Yesterday Gordon spoke of the measures we have taken to secure long-term stability. Later this month in the pre-budget report he will make it clear that removing barriers to growth is central to the task he has set himself at the Treasury.

And beyond those departments throughout the new Government there is the understanding that creating the conditions for growth, enterprise and competitiveness is a job for all of us in Government.

Britain has world-class industries and world-class firms. We have real strengths and outstanding successes. Inward investors from around the world have found Britain a good place to do business.

All this is to be praised and admired. But we should also acknowledge that often the performance of our firms and industries does not match the standards of the best at home and abroad.

Today the DTI has published a report benchmarking the |UK economy – comparing our performance with our competitors. It shows that, while there are British firms competing effectively with the world’s best, many are not. The message is clear: we need to redouble our efforts to match the standards set by the best companies in the world. And ‘benchmarking’ – seeking out and implementing best practice – can be a powerful tool for improving performance. It’s a message everyone in the country and industry needs to heed. Raising performance to match the best in the world is the challenge for modern business in Britain. This is why I warmly welcome the launch of the CBI’s ‘Fit for the Future’ initiative to promote best practice. I wish it success.

But important though these initiatives are, they have little prospect of success unless firmly set within a framework of economic policy to build strength for the long-term. I am an unrepentant long-termist. There aren’t quick fixes to get economic success. Politicians who promise them are not telling the truth.

What we can do, though, is to be clear about our direction and purpose as a nation.

Yesterday at the Mansion House in London, I set out the five priorities of a modern foreign policy for Britain. Today let me set out the basic principles of a modern economic policy for Britain.

It rests on one key belief: to succeed, today, Britain must be the world’s No 1 creative economy. We will win by brains or not at all. We will compete on enterprise and talent or fail.

The partnership I advocate is not some cosy old consensus. It is a hard-headed look at what Government and business need to do together to reach that goal.

These are the principles.

First, we must end Britain’s affliction of boom and bust economies and run a well-managed, tight economic ship. Interest rate decisions taken on the basis of politics are bad decisions which is why we gave the Bank of England independence to make these decisions. I know it’s hard to have interest rate rises and consequent pressure on the pound as we choke off inflation that was back in the system. It was hard, too, to ensure that the July Budget got our public finances on a more stable footing so that we eliminated the structural budget deficit. But I believe passionately that we were right in both cases. Better to have interest rate rises now – still at 7 per cent – than to go back to the early ’90s when they were at 15 per cent for a year. Better to have cut the deficit now than to carry on paying out now just in debt interest payments more than we spend on schools.

Our aim is to rid this country of the vicious cycle of boom and bust that has plagued us for so long. Families, entrepreneurs, all of us feel recession and fear economic instability. It threatens our business, it threatens our job, it makes our mortgage harder to pay, it means we work harder for less reward. That is why the Chancellor and I are determined to take the tough decisions now to ensure long term stability. I want every business to have the security to plan its expansion, every family the stability to pay the mortgage and afford a holiday, every entrepreneur the security to take the risks that are needed to set up new enterprises.

I have promised sound public finances and monetary policy and I will deliver them.

Second, the absolute number one priority for our domestic policy is education. I won’t rehearse the argument. You know it and agree. This Government is making the most concerted effort to tackle poor standards in schools since the war. We have set ourselves some pretty rigorous targets of achievement. I am determined to get there. If we reform student finance – another hard decision, but right – we can also end the cap on student numbers and get resources back into the science and research base of our universities. There can be no first class education system without first rank universities.

Third, we are beginning the process of welfare reform, to encourage work, education and savings. I congratulate business on what it is doing to help us with the programme to tackle long-term youth unemployment. I don’t believe any youngster should leave school and go on the dole. There should be work and skills available and a responsibility to take the opportunities offered. The Green Paper will say more on how we make the tax and benefits system more work-friendly. We are working now on how we reform pension provision for the long-term.

You may say: what’s this got to do with business? I say: everything. Because we cannot carry on spending more and more on social failure. We need to use the talents of the unemployed, not waste them; and encourage work and savings precisely to enforce long-term stability. That is why welfare reform is an essential part of our business strategy.

Fourth, we must keep on looking at how we stimulate enterprise and initiative. The world of work is different today. Many more will work in different ways, in their own business or at home. We will keep a flexible labour market. Even where you may have doubts about certain parts of policy – a minimum wage or trade union representation – remember: that we are consulting business every step of the way; and that taken altogether, the entire changes proposed would still leave us with a labour market considerably less regulated than that of the USA. But flexibility is about more than a light tough on regulation. It is also about helping small businesses, as we are doing. Lifting their burden as with the reduction in corporation tax and especially small businesses corporation tax to its lowest ever level. It is about technology and how we train people to use it.

It is about competition. Who would have thought eighteen years ago a Competition Bill would have been in the first Queen’s Speech of a new Labour Government?

Fifth, we must work with you to renew the country’s infrastructure, especially its transport system.

Sixth, we must get the best out of our membership of the EU for Britain.

On a single currency, I would simply say this. It is important for Britain that the single currency succeeds. Whether we are in or out. If the economic benefits are clear and unambiguous in favour of going in, we want Britain to be part of a successful single currency. And we want business to prepare for that eventuality and make a practical reality of it, as only business can.

To join too early would imply a massive monetary relaxation in the UK at a time when our economy is near the peak of the cycle. There would be a risk of setting off a short-lived inflationary boom that it would then require a long period of recession to overcome. That is precisely the economics of boom and bust which this government was elected to bring to an end. That is why joining this Parliament is unrealistic.

But we must now prepare so that as the point of decision comes, it will be taken on the basis of a clear and unambiguous assessment of Britain’s economic interests. We will put the national economic interest first, and there will be a referendum of the people on the decision.

We have made a pledge to our partners that we will do all we can to ensure a successful start to the single currency in our EU presidency. Our role will be constructive and engaged.

But we will also work hard to ensure that the single currency is set up on a sound footing. We must become Europe’s reformers. Monetary union is a unique and ambitious project. To make it work Europe will need to demonstrate a new adaptability and flexibility. We shall work for that. We will fight hard for a modern and flexible labour market in Europe; and I believe the forthcoming Jobs Summit in Luxembourg will show we are starting to make progress.

Making a reality of the single market is a key priority. Legislation that has been agreed in Brussels needs to be properly applied in Member States. The single market is far from complete and too many distortions in the form of state aids and the rest remain.

David Simon has taken the lead in Government on this issue, he has been working closely with the Commission on the Single Market Action Plan and he will make sure we pursue this vigorously during our EU Presidency next year.

We will fight strenuously for reform of the EU Budget.

I don’t want Britain to become constructive in Europe just by giving in to whatever is proposed by any other European country or the Commission. I want us to be able to persuade for the case for change. But we cannot persuade unless people believe our objectives are rooted in commonsense and reason, not narrow chauvinism.

These objectives – the six principles – are clear and right. With your support they are achievable.

It means setting aside many of the dogmas of the past from left and right. But that is no bad thing. For countries to succeed today, their political leaders must liberate themselves from the old ideologies that plunged the 20th Century into such strife and folly.

Britain is uniquely placed. There is fresh confidence and optimism: fresh understanding of the joys of our history but also the great prospects of our future. There is a new sense of national purpose. Our direction is clear. Help us to get there. For the first time in a generation, I am confident it can be done. So, together, let us do it.

Below is the text of a speech made by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in Paris on the 27th May 1997.

Fellow Heads of Government, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am grateful to President Chirac for hosting this historic event, and for once the word historic is indeed meritous. A new European landscape is being reclaimed from the battlegrounds of the 20th century and this agreement is part of it.

My father fought in the last great European war. I was born in 1953, a child of the Cold War eara, raised amid the constant fear of a conflict with the potential to destroy all of humanity. Whatever other dangers may exist, no such fear exists today. Mine is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war. That is a prize beyond value and this agreement is a great contribution to it.

The drawing of this new European landscape has not been easy, as many in this room know better than I. Stability and prosperity are never assured, they can never be taken for granted, but throughout central and eastern Europe political and economic miracles are being wrought. People raised on suffering and pain sense stability and prosperity can now lie ahead. We must encourage that, all of us, in every way that we can. NATO has served my country well, it has served Europe well, it remains the cornerstone of Europes defence.

And now we can build on this agreement between NATO and Russia we have signed today. And I say that we must not stop here but must go on. I see three priorities. First, using the consultation mechanisms in the founding act fully and effectively. Success will be measured not by the number of meetings, but by the emergence of real mutual confidence and cooperation. Secondly, we must work together wherever we can on the military side. The political links between the countries of NATO and Russia are much stronger than those on the military net. Let us use this act to correct this. Generals who know each other and trust each other are more likely to understand each other and avoid mistakes. Thirdly, we must ensure we are not bound by the confines of this founding act. Its use can grow as that partnership deepens. Let us not be afraid of bold thinking about the new world in which we find ourselves today.

Fifty years ago Europe was recovering from the devastation of war. Thirty years ago, east and west faced each other with mistrust across the Iron Curtain and a massive arms race was the result. Even ten years ago the tensions and divisions were palpable. In these last ten years so much as changed. The east has broken free from the yoke of totalitarian communist dictatorship in no small measure due to the bravery of men like President Yeltsin.

For its part, NATO is still coming to terms with what this seismic change implies. Of course there are problems to overcome, that is inevitable, but now our common aim, east and west, is to make this new political world work. Today we have the opportunity in this agreement to do so. This agreement, born out of the vision and courage of nations determined not to repeat the past, is historys gift to our future. Let us guard it jealously and use it wisely.