Downing Street Furious At Blair's Climate Twaddle On The Eve Of Local Elections: "Tony Fucked Up"
Tony Blair has been forced by Downing Street to row back from his criticism of the government’s net zero strategy after furious Labour politicians warned he had given a boost to Tory and Reform sceptics on the eve of the local elections. Climate experts also accused the former prime minister of granting political cover to fossil fuel interests and weakening momentum behind the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Senior No 10 officials called the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change [TBI] after he claimed the plans were “doomed to fail”, to urge it to address the fallout. The Guardian understands that Keir Starmer has not spoken to his Labour predecessor directly but furious government insiders said that Blair had undermined Starmer on a key issue, at a crucial moment. One Downing Street insider said: “Tony fucked up.” Another said: “He has completely lost his touch.”
A third government source questioned whether the decision to release the report on the eve of the elections was entirely accidental. “It’s not the first time he’s written bombastic forewords suggesting we should slow down on net zero. It’s so disloyal to the party.” Another said they were particularly aggrieved that the words appeared a critique of Starmer himself. “It looks like he is attacking Keir who has only just said climate action was in the DNA of the government.”
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But Labour insiders warned the damage had already been done, with Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, saying she felt “vindicated” by the comments and Nigel Farage boasting on X that Reform UK was “winning the argument” on net zero. There are also concerns Labour could lose votes to the Greens, with their co-leader Carla Denyer urging Starmer to distance himself from Blair’s “dodgy dossier” on net zero. “The future is green; Labour must not allow yesterday’s man to drag us back into the dark ages,” she added. Angry Labour MPs raised questions about the influence that TBI has within the party. As well as the organisation regularly briefing No 10 officials, it has also advised the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and other petrochemical states.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/30/downing-street-forces-tony-blair-to-row-back-from-net-zero-strategy-criticism