Tone alone
The great consensus-builder finds himself alarmingly isolated
AFTER another bruising week, Tony Blair will be spending the weekend among friends. For at least a day or two, he will enjoy the balm of being surrounded by admirers and well-wishers. The occasion will be the Progressive Governance Conference, a spin-off from a think-tank chaired by Mr Blair's friend and former Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Mandelson, called the Policy Network. The conference, which Mr Blair's old chum, Bill Clinton, will kick off on July 11th at Guildhall in London, boasts the A-list of the international centre-left, including several past and present heads of governments. As testimony to Mr Blair's continued celebrity pulling power, it is an impressive line-up.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Tone alone”
From the July 12th 2003 edition
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