A nasty plot in Pall Mall

One important factor in New Labour’s special kind of political success has been its ability to capture independent institutions or individuals and convert them into accomplices. Again and again Tony Blair has pulled off this feat. In his early days he co-opted organisations as diverse as the Country Landowner’s Association, the CBI, the Government Information and Communications Service, the BritaininEurope campaign, and the Liberal Democrat party.

The New Labour technique was simple. It targeted vulnerable individuals right at the top of the relevant organisation. An interesting early example was Ewen Cameron — now Sir Ewen — at the CLA. He was flattered by Downing Street, and some came to view him as a partial propagandist for government policy. Another early example was Adair Turner when director general of the CBI. Plenty of businessmen felt that under Turner — now a senior Downing Street adviser — the CBI was far too friendly to ministers. The supposedly independent BritaininEurope campaign saw a number of business leaders — Colin Marshall of British Airways, given a peerage by Tony Blair, was the most egregious example — turned into apologists for Tony Blair’s prevarication over the euro. There are dozens of other cases in point.

This kind of co-option works at two levels. Individually, the Prime Minister uses his personal charm and powers of persuasion, often with the additional allure of guarantees which he would typically later break. Paddy Ashdown’s diaries give a telling account of this process of being wooed, embraced and then betrayed. At the institutional level the case would be made that ‘real influence’ was to be gained by working privately with ministers rather than making outspoken criticism. It was a very seductive argument, all about quiet deals and secret motives. It is how Tony Blair always likes to operate: witness his own relationship with George Bush.