Tony Blair calls for ‘leadership’ as he reflects on 25 years since Good Friday Agreement
Former prime minister Tony Blair has called for a return to the political leadership that produced the Good Friday Agreement.
His comments come on the 25th anniversary of the historic compromise, which ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
US President Joe Biden and former president Bill Clinton are both expected to visit Belfast to mark the anniversary.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Blair said: “The best thing for political leaders today is to remember that if they think peace has been a good thing, remember this one principle.
“It only came about because of leadership, it only came about because there were leaders prepared to be unpopular even with their own grassroots or part of it, and it only came about because there were leaders with the creativity and the imagination to say whatever the obstacles, we’re going to find a way through and they found it.”
His Irish counterpart, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, recalled: “We were coming from a position where we knew that if we were to mess up, if we were to blow the opportunity, which we could have and maybe nearly did several times, it was back to people dying again.”
Three decades of violence had claimed more than 3,500 lives when IRA and loyalist ceasefires facilitated peace talks.
Three years later, with hopes of breakthrough fading, the two prime ministers engaged with parties in a three-day negotiation.
In the small hours of Good Friday, president Clinton intervened, calling the party leaders from the White House.
Then prime minister Tony Blair (right) and his then Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern, shaking hands outside Stormont, following the agreement
Read more:
The legacy of the Good Friday Agreement
Windsor Framework: UK and EU sign off on new Brexit deal – despite DUP opposition
It was late afternoon when the president’s peace envoy and peace talks chairman, senator George Mitchell, broke the historic news.
“I am pleased to announce that the two governments and political parties of Northern Ireland have reached agreement,” he said.
Nationalist leader John Hume had brought Sinn Fein to the table and David Trimble persuaded his Unionist party to compromise.
His widow Daphne Trimble said: “He knew that it was a big leap into the dark, he was taking a step that had never been taken before, but it was one that he felt had to be taken.
“He knew that we needed an end to the conflict that we had had and this was the best deal that he could obtain.”
Tony Blair (L) and then taoiseach Bertie Ahern signing the Good Friday peace agreement
Asked how he could ever justify the violence that had taken place before that point, former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: “Let’s not talk about that.
“The fact is it happened, it’s over, it’s finished, those who pursued armed actions from the republican point of view felt they had no alternative, we provided an alternative, they embraced that alternative, the IRA went away,” he added.
The fragile peace has largely held but the power sharing arrangement at the heart of the agreement has proven problematic.
Sharing power does not come naturally in a divided society and reconciliation is, in Tony Blair’s words, “the work of generations”.
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Politics latest: Reeves arriving in China for economic talks
Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
Read more from Sky News:
Trump to be sentenced today over porn star hush money
‘It’s an apocalypse’ – families return to homes reduced to ruins by wildfires
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway