The Killing$ of Tony Blair   Presenter: George Galloway Distributor: Bulldog Film Distribution RRP: £TBC BFD027 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 15 August 2016

This feature-length documentary, co-written and presented by George Galloway, examines the prime-ministerial career of Tony Blair and his business activities since leaving office. Combining testimony from prominent observers, ambassadors and statesmen, with extensive archive footage, animation and illustrations from the award-winning political cartoonist Steve Bell, Galloway sets out his argument that, despite good things that his government achieved, Tony Blair’s actions since leaving office reveal that his overriding motivation may have always been a messianic pursuit of personal glory and financial reward...

The Killing$ of Tony Blair is a fascinating documentary which collects together all of the dodgy activity undertaken by Tony Blair during his time as British Prime Minister, and in the years after, when he was on the payroll of the multinational banking and financial institution JPMorgan Chase.

The film weaves together the facts of Tony Blair’s political career, his premiership, the decision to join the USA in the invasion of Iraq and his subsequent role as globe-trotting peace envoy (where he seems to spend a little too much time pushing the interests of JPMorgan).

Immediately on leaving office Blair embarked on the highly lucrative public speaking circuit. He also launched a global business empire, Tony Blair Inc. The man who claimed he was bringing democracy to Iraq was now consulting for dictators, torturers and murderers and has been lavishly rewarded. As a result, he has irrevocably tarnished the office of Prime Minister and the international reputation of the UK.

Galloway proposes that Blair had already sacrificed traditional Labour Party democratic principles before he stepped foot in Downing Street and the corruption that occurred on Blair’s watch far out-shadows the achievements. His most damning theory is that Blair’s decisions while in office were influenced by his knowledge of how he would earn his living once he left number 10.

A key focus of the film is the Iraq War and Blair’s transformation into a self-styled warrior in the war on terror. Under Blair’s leadership, Britain joined George Bush’s crusade to dominate the Middle East – the main energy-producing region of the world. The official verdict on the hot-button topics of WMDs, the dodgy dossier and the legality of a regime-change mission and occupation that ultimately resulted in a sectarian bloodbath has come with the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry Report but Galloway does not hold back from presenting his opinion on what he believes to be one of the worst crimes of the century and the hypocrisy of Tony Blair. After igniting a fire in the Middle East, he then positioned himself as a globetrotting Middle East peace envoy. An act of atonement maybe, but with his web of business interests across the globe Blair’s personal financial gain has been staggering.

While it offers nothing staggeringly new, it does presented it all in one place so the implications of Blair's deeds can be viewed as a whole.

On the negative side Galloway is such an imposing figure in this documentary that at times I was starting to get fed up of hearing his smug voice. There are a number of phrases he tries to throw in casually as though being witty, but they fall flat. By far the biggest fail is in his opening spiel where he ham-fistedly mentions "The Blair Rich Project".

There's also the fact that this documentary offers no balance at all. This is an out and out attack on Blair without anyone in his camp being asked to defend any of the allegations.

While there are a number of criticisms that can be levelled at this documentary, the fact remains that it is an eye opening reminder of how one man has deceived everyone around him in the pursuit of both power and money.

The only extra is the Trailer (1 min, 30 sec).

9

Darren Rea