The Killing$ of Tony Blair

Both produced and presented by former MP George Galloway, The Killing$ of Tony Blair was hardly ever going to be an unbiased affair. Galloway, well known for his campaign against the Iraq War, already had the backing of ‘the people’ with the film being crowdfunded through Kickstarter. A character assassination of the former poster boy for New Labour was in the offing.  And he delivers just that, with gay abandon. However, this excellently-produced Michael Moore-type documentary is backed up by hardcore evidence and Blair’s self interests are highly evident.

The film is conveniently released on the heels of the Chilcot report into the Iraq War. Published in July, it found that B-lair (see what we did there?) had exaggerated the case for war, sent in ill-equipped soldiers and had also mismanaged the occupation of Iraq. But, it soon becomes clear that the title of the film is a three-way:  not only does it point to the deaths of hundreds of thousands during the war in the Middle East, it looks at the demise of old Labour and how Blair continues to make a ‘killing’ lining his pockets through various questionable business relationships. There is a particular focus on his role as a special advisor to JP Morgan.

Co-directed by film-makers Greg Ward and Sanne van den Bergh, as the film unfolds, it gives clear answers behind the motivations of the decisions of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair both in government and post-premiership.

There are certainly a long list of public figures who wish to say their piece against Blair, including Tory Cabinet member David Davis, former Labour minister Clare Short, Stephen Fry, Spectator journalist Peter Oborne and author Will Self. Even Cherie Blair’s half-sister, Lauren Booth, chips in referring to her in-law as ‘Teflon Tony’. She suggests that even Galloway himself would fall under his charms. She, herself, is now a Muslim and somewhat scathing about the former PM. Throw in some former members of the British and American secret services and it’s an explosive account.

If you are a follower of politics then much of the content of the film you may already know but, still, the documentary serves well to weave all the pieces together to only one uncomfortable conclusion.

The Killings of Tony Blair is in UK cinemas with a live satellite Q&A on 27 July.