Tony Blair’s growing links to Saudi Arabia revealed ...Middle East

Sir Tony Blair’s consultancy has expanded its lucrative work with oil-rich Saudi Arabia in recent months, The i Paper can reveal.

The disclosure comes after the former prime minister caused a political storm last week after calling for a reset of net-zero policies, claiming that limiting fossil fuels is “doomed to fail” .

The i Paper has confirmed that since last spring several staff have been hired by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) in Riyadh, with a new subsidiary company formed in the Gulf kingdom.

A TBI spokesman denied Blair’s criticism of net-zero policies was in any way linked to his work with Saudi Arabia.

The TBI’s accounts published at the end of last year state that a “Global Change Company for Business Services LLC, a subsidiary company [has been] incorporated and domiciled in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”. The new company, the accounts state, is 100 per cent owned by Blair’s consultancy.

The TBI, which Blair established in 2016 as a not-for-profit advisory group, has reportedly been working with Saudi Arabia on its Vision 2030 strategy which is overseen by the king’s son and de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The project aims to modernise the kingdom and dilute its economic reliance on oil.

In February, Blair met with Saudi economy and foreign ministers to discuss Vision 2030, and TBI is also thought to be working with other Saudi government departments including the education ministry.

In March, Blair’s consultancy published marketing material on social media including promoting the Saudi national founding day, stating it was “celebrating Saudi Arabia’s legacy since 1727 honouring our past inspiring our future”.

In 2019, the former prime minister refused to end work with Saudi Arabia despite international condemnation following the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist and critic of the regime.

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Although no details of how much TBI is earning from its work with Riyadh has been disclosed, it has previously been reported that TBI had been advising the Saudi government as part of a £9m not-for-profit arrangement.

TBI has also advised fellow Gulf kingdoms Bahrain and the UAE over modernisation programmes, despite criticism of both states over human rights abuses.

Last week, Blair appeared to call into question Labour’s climate agenda and criticised debate on climate change as “riven with irrationality” and “hysteria”.

TBI argued that carbon capture technology and a greater focus around adaption to climate change was warranted, rather that attempts to phase-out fossil fuel usage completely.

Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and green industrialist, told The i Paper that Blair’s links to Gulf states discredited his commentary on net zero.

Vince said: “Tony Blair’s strong economic connections with fossil fuel-producing nations makes him the wrong person to listen to when it comes to the green economy.

“His suggestion that we have less green energy and instead focus on carbon capture – which means burning more fossil fuels – is transparently self-serving for a consultant to oil producing nations.”

Duncan Hames, director of policy for Transparency International UK, said: “There is sometimes only a thin line between a think-tank and a lobbyist, and when the policies they promote would benefit those funding them, it raises questions about whose interests are truly being served.”

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Blair’s criticism of net-zero policies on the eve of the local elections caused a major furore, with some Labour MPs considering the comments a broadside on Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership and a critcism of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

Blair was forced to later clarify his comments, saying he backed Labour’s climate change policies, and TBI published a statement saying they “support the Government’s 2050 net-zero targets” and that the UK Government’s approach is “the right one”.

A TBI spokesperson said that any suggestion their work for oil and gas producers affected recent reports around net zero was false.

The spokesperson said: “TBI works in over 40 countries advising governments. Some are oil and gas producers. Some aren’t. All are impacted by climate change. But the reason TBI has called for a realistic approach to how we defeat climate change is because simply phasing out fossil fuels in the short term is not possible. What shows this is that over many years fossil fuel demand has not changed and this year will actually increase.

“Therefore a policy based on an assumption that there is some easy answer to this is false. And because those who oppose this view – which is based on the facts – don’t want to have a serious grown-up argument they try to claim TBI is only doing this because we work in a country that is an oil and gas producer. That only shows the weakness of their position.”

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