Tony Blair agent John Burton’s book hits USA
Jul 25 2009 by Tom Mullen, The Journal
SECRETS behind former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s leadership are expected to take America by storm in a new book.
Called We Don’t Do God, the work was penned by Blair’s former agent, John Burton, and examines how Christian beliefs lay at the heart of his every move.
Mr Burton, who Blair hailed as one of the most influential men in his life, says he spent hours with the former PM on car journeys, at meetings and over drinks at their local pub.
The resulting expose was written with the help of former Tyne Tees journalist Eileen McCabe, and paints a picture of the Labour Government as seen from Blair’s North East constituency of Sedgefield.
We Don’t Do God has already been released in Britain, but publishers are taking the unusual step of launching the book in America this weekend, only two weeks later.
Publishers said Blair’s huge popularity in the States – where he became known as the quintessentially British prime minister – prompted the move. In the book, Burton reveals how he supported Blair as he sought to modernise the party, how religious faith lay behind many of the leader’s decisions, and the moment Blair admitted he thought David Cameron would win the next election.
He writes of how he knew that Blair the young barrister was going to be something different as early as 1983. “There was something about his voice, It’s hard to say.” he said.
“But the last thing we needed was another young hopeful on the doorstep even though we were running out of time to field a candidate. We started putting Tony through his paces. He had this impressive ability to think through an issue and, with his lawyers’ training, analyse it, taking it to the bitter end.
“We liked what we were hearing.
“But it was more than that. It was his manner that won us over. He had a presence about him that I knew instinctively could win elections.”
The author includes a section analysing Blair’s decision to convert to Catholicism, a move widely anticipated but complicated for the New Labour mastermind.
Burton said: “Tony had no hang-ups about going to a Catholic church.
“When newspapers speculated about him converting after leaving office, he would say: ‘Why should I? I’m happy as I am.’
“Although perhaps he should have added: ‘For now’.
“I often sat in a Catholic church with Tony and his family.
“It was always a slightly uncomfortable moment when they would go for communion and Tony could only sit there, excluded from something that was important to him.”
He also touches on banal, but revealing accounts of the pair’s friendship, revealing the moment Blair returned from a session with former Downing Street ‘lifestyle guru’ Carole Caplin.
He writes: “I remember Tony coming here and asking for a cup of elderflower tea. I said b***** off and have coffee with the rest of us. He took the hint.”
