ianstone
09-08-2010, 05:21 PM
'Anti-war protesters would frighten my friends': Tony Blair forced to cancel second book launch event
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 8th September 2010
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Tony Blair called off a party tonight to mark the launch of his new book, saying it would be 'frightening' for his friends to have to walk past anti-war protesters.
Guests invited to the event, at the Tate Modern gallery in Central London, were told that it had been postponed, a spokeswoman for the book's publishers Random House said.
Campaigners against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had planned to demonstrate outside Tate Modern and criticised the gallery for allowing the party to be held there.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09C9FB000005DC-46_468x743.jpg Protests: Former prime minister Tony Blair arrives to attend his book signing at an Eason bookstore in Dublin on Saturday
It is the second book-related event planned for today that the former prime minister has called off.
He also cancelled a signing session of A Journey, due to be held at the Waterstone's book store in London's Piccadilly, because of planned protests.
The ex-premier was accused of 'running scared' after he scrapped the events.
Mr Blair said he did not want to subject the public to the 'hassle' protests would cause or use up police resources keeping order at the event.
During an appearance on ITV1's This Morning, he said: 'It is sad in a way because you should have the right to sign books or see your friends if you want to.
'But it was going to cause so much hassle. The people at the party tonight are friends and some of them are not political at all.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175D10000005DC-368_468x226.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175D10000005DC-368_468x226_popup.jpg)A man looks at a shelf with Tony Blair's books in Waterstone's in central London as a notice hangs on a wall informing the cancellation of the book signing
'I don't mind going through protesters - I have lived with that all my political life. But for other people it can be a bit unpleasant and frightening.
'Even if a small number of people make a protest the visible impact of that, people throwing things and shouting, it always kind of takes [over] the news.
'In Dublin, there are a small group of protesters but then there were hundreds of people coming to get the book signed and being very friendly... It's just the way it is.'
The party would go ahead at some stage as a thank-you to the people who had helped produce the memoir, he said.
Protest groups had promised a major demonstration outside Waterstone's if the signing went ahead today. A similarly sized protest had been expected outside Tate Modern for the launch party.
Campaigners against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had planned to demonstrate outside the museum and criticised the organisation for allowing the party to be held there.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175BBE000005DC-694_468x313.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175BBE000005DC-694_468x313_popup.jpg)A peace and truth campainger, John Hawsam protests outside Waterstone book shop in London where former British Prime Minister Tony Blair scheduled today to sign his book
Among those planning to picket the event were celebrities including artist Tracey Emin, designer Vivienne Westwood and musician Brian Eno.
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Speaking before the cancellation Ms Westwood said: 'The Tate Modern is a public building with a deserved reputation for exhibiting work of the highest artistic quality.
'Tony Blair is widely held to be incriminated in war crimes and the majority of the British public believe he lied to parliament to take Britain into the illegal Iraq war.'
Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop The War Coalition, who had planned to protest outside Tate Modern, said it was a 'big victory' for the anti-war movement.
She said: 'It shows he is running scared. The people who say we should not protest are denying us the right to persist in asking questions about the war and denying the rights of Iraqis who are still suffering because of Blair's policies.'
Speaking before the cancellation a spokesman for Tate Modern said: 'Tate is not staging a launch for Tony Blair's new book. Tate's galleries are available for hire by companies. These events are private and details are confidential.'
Eggs and shoes were hurled by protesters and one attempted to make a citizen's arrest when Mr Blair signed copies of A Journey in Dublin last weekend.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09DEC5000005DC-445_468x287.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09DEC5000005DC-445_468x287_popup.jpg)Irish police secure Eason book store in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, before Mr Blair arrived
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09CB2A000005DC-952_468x294.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09CB2A000005DC-952_468x294_popup.jpg)Demonstrators engage with the Irish Police on Saturday afternoon. The problems made Mr Blair reconsider the book signing event in London
Speaking on ITV1's new Daybreak programme about his book the former PM said yesterday: 'To be frank about it, I am concerned (about the protests). I do not want to put everyone through a lot of cost and hassle on this signing so I am thinking about that.'
He said the Metropolitan Police were 'fabulous and they will do whatever we ask them to do' but should not be asked to commit resources unnecessarily.
The cost of policing his appearance at the Chilcot Inquiry this year was £270,000.
He added: 'The book is selling fantastically. There are people - particularly now the BNP apparently say they want to get in on the action - you end up just causing a lot of hassle for people and cost when there are better things for the police to do and it's not as if we need to do it.'
Mr Blair said he and Gordon Brown had not been in contact since the publication of the book - which contained many criticisms of his successor.
'But we will,' he told presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.
Mr Blair passed on his sympathies to David Cameron, who rushed to France today after his father suffered a stroke while on holiday.
He was also questioned about the passage in A Journey in which he wrote about Cherie cradling him in her arms: 'I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength, I was an animal following my instinct, knowing I would need every ounce of emotional power and resilience to cope with what lay ahead.'
After Ms Willoughby exclaimed 'Tony, you tiger!' the former prime minster admitted: 'My kids have been, mocking me endlessly about this.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310054/Tony-Blair-forced-cancel-second-book-launch-event-new-protest-threat.html#ixzz0yyWR8NJt
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 8th September 2010
Comments (152) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310054/Tony-Blair-forced-cancel-second-book-launch-event-new-protest-threat.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310054/Tony-Blair-forced-cancel-second-book-launch-event-new-protest-threat.html)
Tony Blair called off a party tonight to mark the launch of his new book, saying it would be 'frightening' for his friends to have to walk past anti-war protesters.
Guests invited to the event, at the Tate Modern gallery in Central London, were told that it had been postponed, a spokeswoman for the book's publishers Random House said.
Campaigners against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had planned to demonstrate outside Tate Modern and criticised the gallery for allowing the party to be held there.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09C9FB000005DC-46_468x743.jpg Protests: Former prime minister Tony Blair arrives to attend his book signing at an Eason bookstore in Dublin on Saturday
It is the second book-related event planned for today that the former prime minister has called off.
He also cancelled a signing session of A Journey, due to be held at the Waterstone's book store in London's Piccadilly, because of planned protests.
The ex-premier was accused of 'running scared' after he scrapped the events.
Mr Blair said he did not want to subject the public to the 'hassle' protests would cause or use up police resources keeping order at the event.
During an appearance on ITV1's This Morning, he said: 'It is sad in a way because you should have the right to sign books or see your friends if you want to.
'But it was going to cause so much hassle. The people at the party tonight are friends and some of them are not political at all.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175D10000005DC-368_468x226.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175D10000005DC-368_468x226_popup.jpg)A man looks at a shelf with Tony Blair's books in Waterstone's in central London as a notice hangs on a wall informing the cancellation of the book signing
'I don't mind going through protesters - I have lived with that all my political life. But for other people it can be a bit unpleasant and frightening.
'Even if a small number of people make a protest the visible impact of that, people throwing things and shouting, it always kind of takes [over] the news.
'In Dublin, there are a small group of protesters but then there were hundreds of people coming to get the book signed and being very friendly... It's just the way it is.'
The party would go ahead at some stage as a thank-you to the people who had helped produce the memoir, he said.
Protest groups had promised a major demonstration outside Waterstone's if the signing went ahead today. A similarly sized protest had been expected outside Tate Modern for the launch party.
Campaigners against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had planned to demonstrate outside the museum and criticised the organisation for allowing the party to be held there.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175BBE000005DC-694_468x313.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B175BBE000005DC-694_468x313_popup.jpg)A peace and truth campainger, John Hawsam protests outside Waterstone book shop in London where former British Prime Minister Tony Blair scheduled today to sign his book
Among those planning to picket the event were celebrities including artist Tracey Emin, designer Vivienne Westwood and musician Brian Eno.
More...
David Cameron rushes to his father's bedside in France after 78-year-old suffers stroke (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310067/David-Cameron-rushes-fathers-bedside-78-year-old-suffers-stroke.html)
Speaking before the cancellation Ms Westwood said: 'The Tate Modern is a public building with a deserved reputation for exhibiting work of the highest artistic quality.
'Tony Blair is widely held to be incriminated in war crimes and the majority of the British public believe he lied to parliament to take Britain into the illegal Iraq war.'
Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop The War Coalition, who had planned to protest outside Tate Modern, said it was a 'big victory' for the anti-war movement.
She said: 'It shows he is running scared. The people who say we should not protest are denying us the right to persist in asking questions about the war and denying the rights of Iraqis who are still suffering because of Blair's policies.'
Speaking before the cancellation a spokesman for Tate Modern said: 'Tate is not staging a launch for Tony Blair's new book. Tate's galleries are available for hire by companies. These events are private and details are confidential.'
Eggs and shoes were hurled by protesters and one attempted to make a citizen's arrest when Mr Blair signed copies of A Journey in Dublin last weekend.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09DEC5000005DC-445_468x287.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09DEC5000005DC-445_468x287_popup.jpg)Irish police secure Eason book store in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, before Mr Blair arrived
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09CB2A000005DC-952_468x294.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/08/article-1310054-0B09CB2A000005DC-952_468x294_popup.jpg)Demonstrators engage with the Irish Police on Saturday afternoon. The problems made Mr Blair reconsider the book signing event in London
Speaking on ITV1's new Daybreak programme about his book the former PM said yesterday: 'To be frank about it, I am concerned (about the protests). I do not want to put everyone through a lot of cost and hassle on this signing so I am thinking about that.'
He said the Metropolitan Police were 'fabulous and they will do whatever we ask them to do' but should not be asked to commit resources unnecessarily.
The cost of policing his appearance at the Chilcot Inquiry this year was £270,000.
He added: 'The book is selling fantastically. There are people - particularly now the BNP apparently say they want to get in on the action - you end up just causing a lot of hassle for people and cost when there are better things for the police to do and it's not as if we need to do it.'
Mr Blair said he and Gordon Brown had not been in contact since the publication of the book - which contained many criticisms of his successor.
'But we will,' he told presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.
Mr Blair passed on his sympathies to David Cameron, who rushed to France today after his father suffered a stroke while on holiday.
He was also questioned about the passage in A Journey in which he wrote about Cherie cradling him in her arms: 'I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength, I was an animal following my instinct, knowing I would need every ounce of emotional power and resilience to cope with what lay ahead.'
After Ms Willoughby exclaimed 'Tony, you tiger!' the former prime minster admitted: 'My kids have been, mocking me endlessly about this.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310054/Tony-Blair-forced-cancel-second-book-launch-event-new-protest-threat.html#ixzz0yyWR8NJt