Ah, the noble British Prime Minister—champion of democracy, slayer of corruption, fearless defender of integrity… well, at least until retirement. Then, suddenly, it’s all “Oh look, a million-dollar consultancy gig with that dictator I was scolding last year—what a coincidence!”
Take Sir Tony Blair, for example. As PM, he probably had a drawer full of sternly worded letters for autocratic regimes. But the moment he swapped Downing Street for the boardroom, those same despots became “valued clients.” Kazakhstan’s ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was in desperate need of an image consultant after his security forces dealt with protests in the most creative way possible (by shooting 14 civilians). Enter Blair, ready to sprinkle democracy-flavoured PR magic over the whole affair—for a humble $2 million per year.
Even better? Blair’s Kazakh partner-in-strategy, Karim Massimov, who went from Prime Minister to convicted traitor and is now serving an 18-year prison sentence. Naturally, when Massimov wasn’t busy allegedly laundering money and collecting Napoleon’s letters, Blair’s firm was helping him with “international positioning.” Presumably, “positioning” meant standing far enough away from corruption allegations to still collect a pay check.
So here’s the British PM cycle: Step 1: Condemn corruption. Step 2: Retire. Step 3: Realize anti-corruption lectures pay pennies compared to consulting for corrupt regimes.Step 4: Cash in. The hypocrisy writes itself—if only British voters could invoice for the irony.
What do you think? Should former PMs get honorary membership in the "International Society of Convenient Amnesia"?
MIMY2SAI says 'The Art of the Suit'
Blair pictured with Kazakh dictator’s right-hand man
Ah, the noble British Prime Minister—champion of democracy, slayer of corruption, fearless defender of integrity… well, at least until retirement. Then, suddenly, it’s all “Oh look, a million-dollar consultancy gig with that dictator I was scolding last year—what a coincidence!”
Take Sir Tony Blair, for example. As PM, he probably had a drawer full of sternly worded letters for autocratic regimes. But the moment he swapped Downing Street for the boardroom, those same despots became “valued clients.” Kazakhstan’s ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was in desperate need of an image consultant after his security forces dealt with protests in the most creative way possible (by shooting 14 civilians). Enter Blair, ready to sprinkle democracy-flavoured PR magic over the whole affair—for a humble $2 million per year.
Even better? Blair’s Kazakh partner-in-strategy, Karim Massimov, who went from Prime Minister to convicted traitor and is now serving an 18-year prison sentence. Naturally, when Massimov wasn’t busy allegedly laundering money and collecting Napoleon’s letters, Blair’s firm was helping him with “international positioning.” Presumably, “positioning” meant standing far enough away from corruption allegations to still collect a pay check.
So here’s the British PM cycle: Step 1: Condemn corruption. Step 2: Retire. Step 3: Realize anti-corruption lectures pay pennies compared to consulting for corrupt regimes. Step 4: Cash in. The hypocrisy writes itself—if only British voters could invoice for the irony.
What do you think? Should former PMs get honorary membership in the "International Society of Convenient Amnesia"?