LINKS to authoritarian regimes mean Labour must sever all links with former party leader and prime minister Tony Blair’s think tank, according to an SNP MP.
Just days after SNP leader Humza Yousaf was criticised for inviting “authoritarian despot” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to Scotland, his Westminster economy spokesperson Drew Hendry has called out the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) for its links to some of the world’s other human rights abusers in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer.
Expressing his “deep concern” over the TBI links and the “unclear nature” of some of its funding sources, Mr Hendry challenged the Labour leader — who called for the “need to clean up politics” earlier this month — to “lead by example on this front and make a public commitment to sever all links between the Labour Party and the TBI.”
Examples Mr Hendry cited included cash being paid to TBI from the governments of Kazakhstan and Bahrain, describing the latter as having “an extremely concerning human rights record and whose 2022 elections were described by Human Rights Watch as ‘neither free nor fair’.”
Mr Hendry said: “Most notably, the TBI accepted payment of £9 million from the Saudi Arabian government in 2018 — via 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 per cent over the past year, although its accounts only selectively list from whom it receives money, sometimes vaguely referencing government partners.”
He said that Sir Keir has been “vocal about his desire to end the scourge of dark money in Westminster politics,” adding: “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 TBI after reports revealed that 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.
“It is becoming difficult to find a policy in the Labour manifesto that Sir Keir 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.”
The Labour Party and the TBI have been contacted for comment.
