The world according to Blair, by 'Mr Tony'

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All smiles with the students

The Prime Minister has unveiled the world according to 'Mr Tony' as he launched into a bizarre lecture on life, the universe and everything.

Tony Blair left an audience of Arab female university students lost for words as he called for a 'global culture' based on common values of openness, tolerance, equality and fairness.

And he revealed the 'theory of Mr Tony' - you cannot please everyone so just press ahead even if others think you are wrong. The oddly-worded remarks came during a tour of a women-only university in the United Arab Emirates.

What began an earnest question and answer session on Middle East politics turned into a philosophical discussion which left those present scratching their heads.

And Mr Blair was totally out-foxed by one young woman who asked him whether Iraq was heading towards another 'Sykes-Picot'.

The Premier appeared to have no idea she was referring to the secret treaty between Britain and France in 1916 which led to the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the states of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

One onlooker suggested Mr Blair's decision to wander off track was the result of fatigue from a gruelling seven-country, six-day Middle East trip.

By contrast, the Prime Minister will end his grandstanding tour with a hard-hitting speech in which he will call for Iran to be 'pinned back' by moderate Muslim states in the region.

Mr Blair told several hundred female students - almost all dressed in head to toe black abaya gowns and black headscarves showing only their faces - at Zayed University that, despite their different religions and cultures, people of moderation around the world 'share the same God and the same values'.

He added: "The single most important thing today, particularly at this moment when there is so much danger and conflict, is to create that global culture, based on global values.

"Alongside all the difficult issues in this region and elsewhere, that task to create a global culture based on global values is the single most important challenge for our generation."

During 30 minutes of questioning, one young woman raised laughter by addressing him as 'Mr Tony'.

Asked what was most difficult about being PM, Mr Blair said: "The art of leadership is learning to take the decisions. Sometimes you are right, sometimes you are wrong.

"Some of the decisions are very difficult and someone always gets angry.

"When I first started in politics, I wanted to please everyone, and you can't please everyone and you learn that the best thing is to do what you think is right and everyone can make their judgment.

"That's the theory of Mr Tony - which I prefer to 'Prime Minister', let me tell you."

But Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "It is the fiction of Mr Tony , rather than the theory of Mr Tony. In fact he set out to please everyone and ended up disappointing them all."

In his speech in Dubai, Mr Blair will step up pressure for more sanctions against Iran unless it stops calling for Israel to be wiped off the map, ends its nuclear ambitions and stops fomenting terror in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestinian territories.

He will say that there is a 'monumental struggle' going on between those who believe in democracy and those who want only extremism - describing it as the 'challenge of the early 21st century'.

"We must support and empower moderate and modernising Governments and people everywhere in this region. We must recognise the strategic threat the Government of Iran poses.

"They seek to pin us back in Lebanon, in Iraq in Palestine. Our response should be to expose what they are doing, build the alliances to prevent it and pin them back across the whole of the region.

"To do this we need the open and clear backing of the countries in this region who know better than me what is happening and why."

Yet critics questioned the decision to champion moderate and democratic nations in the Arab world in the United Arab Emirates - where less than one per cent of the population have a vote for the ruling government council in elections this week. Mr Blair met UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the ruler of Dubai and a member of the wealthy Maktoum family who are bidding to buy Liverpool Football Club, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed.

 

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