by Tom Bower
‘80,000. With cash benefits …’ ibid., 25 August 2001
‘swamping’ schools and … Pollard, p. 278
The message to Spencer … Spencer, interview with author; The Times, 16 September 2002; Campbell, Blair Years p. 638; Seldon, Blair, p. 635
In 2000, an additional … Portes, p. 22
‘I want people to come here freely …’ Pollard, p. 281
and was attacked as racist. The Times, 16 September 2002
Since 1997, at least 67,000 … Pollard, p. 274; Blunkett, House of Commons, 2 December 2002
‘I’m all for good immigration.’ Turnbull, interview with author
Blunkett did not reveal … Barber, p. 135
In London, Andrew Turnbull agreed. Turnbull, interview with author
‘Is this handleable? …’ Blunkett, interview with author
CHAPTER 24
‘same old gossip …’ The Times, 19 January 2001
‘Tony Blair is the best friend …’ ibid., 22 November 2001
‘This is bollocks’ Bower, Brown, p. 380; Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 97
Wanless was outraged … Bower, Brown, p. 378ff
‘It did sometimes feel …’ Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 156–9
‘The mood in the media …’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 602
David Blunkett and John Reid … Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 140
‘He hasn’t changed …’ ibid., pp. 154–6
The spokesman could also … The Times, 12 February 2002
Moore denied that … Guardian, 14 February 2002
‘slowly the whole foundation …’ The Times, 22 May 1998
Among the list of government-inspired … Powell, pp. 206–7; Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 58, 154–6, 162–5, 183
‘unlike 1998 …’ Barber, p. 57
their senior managers … Rivett, p. 67
Blair praised Richard Grainger … King and Crewe, p. 196
‘culture of the community’ Blair, p. 576
he redefined his ‘golden rule’ … Seldon and Kavanagh, pp. 172–4, 418
‘new discipline established …’ Barber, p. 57
‘barrister’s ability to soak up …’ Powell, p. 42
‘a sense of drift …’ Crisp, pp. 14–15, 202
‘the difference between …’ Crisp, interview with author
‘I had a simple …’ Crisp, p. 157, and interview with author
‘still very wedded’ Crisp, pp. 75–6
In frustration, he appealed … The Times, 7 August 2002
He rejected the evidence … Le Grand, Financial Times, 25 May 2011
‘a big bad moment’ Campbell, Blair Years, pp. 624–5
Campbell issued a … Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 324
CHAPTER 25
That one day’s results … Guardian, 14 June 2011; Brown, interview with author
He heaped the blame on … Barber, p. 186
‘The results will improve …’ Blunkett, interview with author
The standards among … Brown, ‘Are We Getting Better at Educating?’ KCL lecture, June 2010, slide 4; Brown, ‘Magic Bullets or Chimeras?’ pp. 4, 8; Ofsted, ‘National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 1998–2002’, p. 11; Civitas, ‘Blair’s School Legacy Is a Sham’, 2007; Civitas, ‘Straight As? A-Level Teachers’ Views on Today’s A-Levels’, 2009; Civitas, ‘The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools’, 2015
Innumeracy among children … Brown, ‘The Key Role of …’, p. 27; Robert Peal, ‘Progressively Worse’, Leverhulme Trust paper, 2014; Sutton Trust, ‘Blair’s Education – An International Perspective’; House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee, ‘From Baker to Balls: The Foundations of the Education System’, April 2010
‘In some cases, research …’ Brown, ‘The Key Role of …’, p. 29
His target had been … Ofsted, ‘National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 1998–2002’, p. 3
‘Too often …’ Barber, p. 145
Morris was focused on … Brown, ‘Strategy or Straitjacket’, study commissioned by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, 2002, p. 5
‘standards not structures’ Barber, p. 23
He ignored her advice … Lupton and Obolenskaya, p. 27
‘grade manipulation’ Seldon and Kavanagh, p. 261, citing Tomlinson
a ‘misleading’ assurance … www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/resultsgeneration.pdf
‘Are we in trouble …’ Daily Telegraph, 27 October 2002
‘makes me weep’ Education Committee, House of Commons, 8 March 2010
The country would need … The Times, 28 November 2002
‘Will you push through university top-up fees?’ Clarke, interview with author; Blair, p. 487
‘People have been licensed …’ Mandelson, p. 378
declared his support for … Seldon, Blair, p. 634
He even advocated a debate … ibid.
CHAPTER 26
‘I don’t want to look at myself …’ Meyer, interview with author; ‘Conditions for Military Action’, Cabinet Office, Defence and Overseas Secretariat briefing paper, 21 July 2002; Owen, In Sickness, p. 275
‘That’s all history, Mike …’ Rawnsley, End of the Party, pp. 184–5
He predicted Saddam’s overthrow … Owen, In Sickness, p. 274; Danner, ‘The Secret Way to War’, New York Review of Books, 2006
he spoke with certainty … Owen, In Sickness, pp. 270, 275
‘sort of Rolls-Royce …’ Chilcot, Powell letter, 19 July 2002
‘Mr Blair has no clue …’ The Times, 31 July 2002
‘I really think we …’ Chilcot, Short, 2 February 2010
‘very little intelligence’ Butler report, para 293
‘If the government insists … Essenhigh, interview with author
‘profoundly unsatisfactory’ Dannatt, Leading from the Front, p. 283
The military’s fate depended … Essenhigh, interview with author; Tebbit, interview with author
The Treasury, he knew … Chilcot, Boyce and Manning
‘If we get disarmament …’ Chilcot, Manning
However, his sympathy was crushed … Blair, p. 407
the JIC applied ‘greater firmness’ Butler report, paras 303–4
‘a substantial rewrite …’ Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 293
For others, the confusion … Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 43
‘a fellow depressive’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 569
‘a ring of secrecy’ Chilcot, Manning
Blair had fragmented Whitehall … Turnbull, interview with author
Dearlove accepted his … Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 30
Jones was not an ‘authoritative’ expert … Butler, interview with author; Chilcot, Scarlett, pp. 27, 47
They even disseminated … Butler report, para 486
‘unduly influenced’ ibid., para 450
‘last call for any items …’ Butler report, paras 338, 507; ISC report, Cm 5972, para 10, p. 52; Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 7
‘More weight was put …’ Butler report, para 338
‘reading like the Sunday Times at its worst’ Hutton inquiry, 20 August 2003
‘a pretty rare event …’ Butler report, paras 573–6; Chilcot, Dearlove, second session, 30 July 2010, pp. 28–9, 34
‘Blair loved his close relationship …’ Turnbull, interview with author
‘fragile and dangerous’ Chilcot, Dearlove, p. 64
Blair had the impression … Chilcot, Blair, 29 January 2010; Butler report, paras 573–8
On the basis of Dearlove’s briefing … ISC report, Cm 5972, para 79
‘did famously influence …’ Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 20
‘felt it was pretty compelling stuff’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 637
‘We must make clear …’ Seldon, Blair, p. 582
no subsequent inquiry … ISC report, paras 76–8; Butler report, para 464; Butler, interview with author
Manning and Powell, who were … Turnbull, interview with author
/> the overwhelming majority of ministers … Chilcot, Wall, p. 88
‘grim meeting’ Cook, Point of Departure (Simon and Schuster, 2003), p. 212
‘The infamous 45-minute claim …’ Blair, p. 406
‘extremely uncomfortable’ Chilcot, Dearlove, first session, 16 June 2010, p. 60
He would also discover … Chilcot, Dearlove, second session, 30 July 2010, p. 30
‘I counted, was a big player …’ Blair, p. 410
‘This is what we have to do …’ Dannatt, p. 283
CHAPTER 27
The government, Hartley … ‘The Energy Review: A Performance and Innovation Unit Report’, February 2002, p. 7 (www.gci.org.uk/Documents/TheEnergyReview.pdf)
Blair accepted Hartley’s … Ian Rutledge, ‘New Labour, Energy Policies and Competitive Markets’, pp. 907, 918, April 2002
‘Blair Set to Put …’ The Times, 2 September 2002
‘He’s behaving outrageously …’ Mandelson, p. 354
Two years later … Seldon and Kavanagh, pp. 195, 205, citing NAO report
since 1997 a million jobs … ibid., pp. 197, 201–3
John Prescott had begun … The Times, 24 September 1997
Blair supported his chancellor’s … King and Crewe, pp. 204ff; Seldon and Kavanagh, pp. 216ff
Instead, Downing Street employed … King and Crewe, p. 316
Blair was against nuclear power … The Times, 24 February 2003; Wilson, interview with author
‘undermined the drive …’ BBC News, 24 February 2003
he asked John Birt to draw up … Turnbull, interview with author
‘I was as isolated …’ Blair, p. 412
Blair went to her London home … Levy, p. 213
‘I’m going to sack him’ Powell, p. 127
CHAPTER 28
‘The military …’ James de Waal, ‘Depending on the Right People: British Political–Military Relations 2001–10’, Chatham House, 2013, p. 6
JIC assessment, based on Curveball … Butler report, para 349
after an embarrassed silence … Fry, interview with author; West, interview with author; Hoon, interview with author
Later, he would credit Boyce … Blair, p. 411
Walker resisted issuing … Walker, interview with author; Elliott, interview with author
Hoon, too, appealed to Blair. Hoon, interview with author
‘because we are trying to avoid war’ Turnbull, interview with author
By excluding the MoD … Tebbit, interview with author
‘I was rebuffed …’ ibid.
‘This is what I want …’ Hoon, interview with author
‘You cannot send the armed forces …’ Essenhigh, interview with author
‘I was disappointed that Blair …’ ibid.
‘That was playing politics …’ Walker, interview with author
Often, during over … Butler report, paras 609–10
‘I’m sure we received …’ Straw, interview with author
The region, as he later wrote … Blair, pp. 387–8
He looked blank. Boulton, interview with author
‘We invaded Iraq …’ ABC TV, 27 February 2003
Dearlove blamed the inspectors’ lack … Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 36
‘I see that as a policy issue’ Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 41
‘SIS [MI6] had over-promised …’ Omand, interview with author; Chilcot, Scarlett, p. 36; Chilcot, Dearlove, first session, 16 June 2010, p. 90
CHAPTER 29
Blair telephoned Michael Barber. Barber, p. 170
‘Why can’t we just sort this out?’ Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 419, 423, 427
But the fall was for … Balch, p. 10
Despite his fluent jargon … Mandelson, interview with author
‘It’s best if I sophisticate this …’ Blunkett, interview with author
‘The facts show …’ Pollard, p. 277
‘TB was looking more worried …’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 665
CHAPTER 30
Their relationship, the MI6 chief thought … Chilcot, Dearlove, first session, 16 June 2010, pp. 76, 89
unofficially classified Curveball … Tyler Drumheller, ‘On the Brink’, Public Affairs, 2008; Owen, In Sickness, p. 304
Hoon knew that the chiefs … Hoon, interview with author
General John Reith, responsible for … Chilcot, Reith
Boyce again told Blair … Chilcot, Boyce
Hoon’s statement did provoke … Chilcot, Wall, pp. 88–9
‘George, shouldn’t we do something …’ Sands, Lawless World (Viking Penguin, 2006), citing Rycroft’s memo about the Blair–Bush conversation
‘a provocation’ Butler, interview with author
‘Can we pull out of the invasion? …’ Tebbit, interview with author; Hoon, interview with author
‘The plan was we did not need a plan …’ Cross, Sunday Times, 21 October 2007
To head off an anti-war march … ISC report, para 130
‘It was a bad own goal …’ Campbell, Blair Years, p. 664
Manning even deluded himself … Chilcot, Manning, p. 136
‘Blair never listened to Chirac …’ Chilcot, Wall, pp. 54–5
Blair swept his warnings aside … Seldon, Blair, p. 594
‘Are you sure Saddam has WMDs? …’ Hoon, interview with author
Without that document … Chilcot, Boyce
‘I understand’ Hoon, interview with author
‘You don’t have to do it …’ Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 160
‘I was wrong on every count’ Chilcot, Manning, p. 81
Before Goldsmith returned … Blair, p. 422
‘assumed wrongly’ ibid., p. 436
regarded as his exclusive ‘client’ Chilcot, Goldsmith
‘I couldn’t work out …’ Chilcot, Walker
An ICM opinion poll found that … The Times, 31 March 2003
‘It does really get to you …’ Stothard, 30 Days, p. 189
At the end of the day, he flew … Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 535–8
After his retirement, Boyce … House of Lords, 6 November 2009
With exquisite symmetry, Fiona Millar … Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 541–3
CHAPTER 31
a third group would describe Brown … Seldon and Kavanagh, p. 165; Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 194; Peston, Brown’s Britain, p. 217
Blair usually anticipated … Chilcot, Wilson, 25 January 2011
he encouraged Jeremy Heywood … Rawnsley, End of the Party, pp. 195–6; Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 529–30
In the tit-for-tat … Powell, pp. 114, 209
Compared to securing Brown’s … Campbell, Burden of Power, pp. 541–3
Brown had assumed that … Office of Budget Responsibility, working paper no. 7
Despite the rising bedlam … Bower, Gordon Brown, p. 370
‘hardship and distress’ King and Crewe, p. 147
‘They basically lied to me …’ ibid., p. 144
Only half that number … ‘Households Below Average Income Report’, The Times, 14 March 2003; Seldon and Kavanagh, pp. 173–4, 316, 319–20, 327
‘Call me Cherie …’ Campbell, Power and the People, p. 506
‘There’s finally progress’ Barber, p. 131
Bureaucrats were ‘gaming …’ Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS: Is the Extra Money Working?’ p. 18, citing Audit Commission
‘Hit the target and miss the point’ Anthony Harrison, ‘Reducing Waiting Times’, Journal of Health Service Research Policy, vol. 14, no. 3, July 2009
‘They’re tinkering at the edges …’ Anderson, interview with author
In his distrust of politicians … Crisp, email to author, 30 March 2015
‘We must shift from “NHS delivery” …’ Warner, interview with author
‘We made a mistake’ Hutton, interview with author; Rivett, p. 162
Andrew Foster, responsible for … Foster, interview with author; Health Service Jour
nal, 25 March 2010
‘unproductive interference …’ Blair speech, 24 February 2004
‘We created overcapacity …’ Crisp, interview with author
They omitted to disclose … Financial Times, 1 October 2014
‘The NHS got a huge jolt …’ Hutton, interview with author
Blair was the party leader despite … Rawnsley, End of the Party, p. 229
‘Tony felt cornered’ Mandelson, p. 365
In Blair’s interpretation, Brown … Blair, p. 485
After telephoning some … Powell, pp. 121, 156; Campbell, Burden of Power, p. 565
‘I had told Blair in 2001 …’ Milburn, interview with author; Mandelson, p. 364
Chris Smith emerged from … The Times, 19 May 2003
Blair was again torn … Powell, p. 296
‘I really never looked back’ Blair, pp. 56, 60, 68
‘I was just a front man …’ ibid., p. 73
‘His way of managing Gordon …’ Powell, p. 108
Blair’s weakness was … Blair, pp. 493–9
‘I realise that physicians …’ Foster, interview with author
Dirty staff were causing … Rivett, p. 224
Within a year, British doctors … King’s Fund, ‘Where’s the Money Going?’ February 2006
After taking account of … ibid.
The estimated cost of … The Times, 31 October 2004
‘We changed the doctors’ contracts …’ Powell, p. 181; ‘Explaining NHS Deficits’, Dept of Health report, pp. 63–4, 2007
‘Foundation hospitals …’ The Times, 8 May 2003
Blair’s misfortune was … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’, p. 50
‘supreme fulfillment of my mission …’ Blair, pp. 496–7
Britain’s survival rates … Office for National Statistics, p. 43, 2006; King’s Fund, ‘Health and Ten Years of Labour Government’, p. 10, 2007
Much of the extra money … Gubb, Civitas, ‘The NHS’ p. 21
‘We had too much …’ Crisp, pp. 91–2, 135
‘Reid didn’t care …’ Alberti, interview with author
NHS hospitals would be … Warner, A Suitable Case for Treatment, p. 61
Gaming by managers … Turnbull, interview with author
