SNP challenges Starmer to ‘sever all ties’ with Tony Blair Institute

SNP Westminster economy spokesperson Drew Hendry issued the demand in a letter to UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, right, has been challenged to ‘sever all ties’ with the think tank set up by Sir Tony Blair (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is being challenged to “sever all links” between his party and the think tank set up by Sir Tony Blair.

Sir Tony, who was Labour’s longest serving prime minister, spending 10 years in Downing Street, set up the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) in 2016.

But SNP Westminster economy spokesperson Drew Hendy has highlighted “deep concern” about how the organisation is resourced, saying it has received funding from “authoritarian governments with damaging human rights records”.

With Sir Keir having used a speech earlier this month to highlight the “need to clean up politics”, Mr Hendy challenged the UK Labour leader to “lead by example on this front and make a public commitment to sever all links between the Labour Party and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change”.

Given it is pretty much certain that Labour will form the next UK government, they must lead by example

Drew Hendry, SNP MP

In a letter to Sir Keir, given to the PA news agency, Mr Hendry insists this was necessary because of the “unclear nature” of some  of some of the TBI’s sources of funding and because of the “appalling human rights record of some of the countries which do fund its activities”.

Mr Hendry said the TBI had accepted money from the governments of both Kazakhstan and of Bahrain, describing the latter as being a place with “an extremely concerning human rights record and whose 2022 elections were described by Human Rights Watch as “neither free nor fair”.

The SNP MP added: “Most notably, the TBI accepted payment of £9 million from the Saudi Arabian government in 2018 – paid through a Guernsey-registered firm – despite the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi taking place in that same year.

“Overall, the TBI has seen its income from foreign governments rise by almost 50% over the past year, although its accounts only selectively list who it receives money from, sometimes vaguely referencing government partners.”

With Sir Keir, who is widely expected to be the UK’s next prime minister, having pledged to “restore standards in public life”, Mr Hendry told the Labour leader he agreed with him on the “the need to both end the scourge of dark money in Westminster politics, and to restore public confidence in our politics”.

He went on to tell Sir Keir that cutting links with the TBI would “send a strong message that you are indeed serious about matching your rhetoric on cleaning up politics with concrete actions”.

Mr Hendry said: “Sir Keir Starmer has been vocal about his desire to end the scourge of dark money in Westminster politics. The SNP wholeheartedly agrees that this must be a priority for the UK Government.

“That is why I am urging him to cut ties with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change after reports revealed the organisation accepted funding from authoritarian governments with shocking human rights records.

“Given it is pretty much certain that Labour will form the next UK government, they must lead by example.”

He added: “It is becoming difficult to find a policy in the Labour manifesto that Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t U-turned on but I very much hope that he stays true to his word on wanting to end the Tory practice of foreign money in UK politics.”

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “This is yet another example of the SNP playing games rather than serving Scotland.

“With one in seven Scots on an NHS waiting list, the Scottish government should be focused on the issues that matter to people.

“If they can’t, they should stand aside and let Labour take over.”

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has been contacted for comment.