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Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace UK Executive Director, comments on the UK prime minister's track record
Tony Blair's dominance of the political landscape has become almost unchallenged. While Blair plays the global statesman, Gordon Brown grapples with the economic consequences of the war. The nascent Labour rebellions on public services and Star Wars, much discussed over the summer, were swept away by a tide of unity-in-the-face-of-adversity. The boost the Tories expected from a new leader hasn't happened: Iain Duncan Smith is no more than Blair's echo on the issue of the moment. The Lib Dems struggle even more than usual to be heard.
On the face of it, this is not a promising environment for Greenpeace, since many campaigns depend on getting the Prime Minister to change his mind. But there are opportunities. Blair's Party Conference speech outlined a vision of new global security based on co-operation and community. To realise this, he will have to confront the trend of American isolationism and rejection of international treaties. Indeed he went out of his way to praise Kyoto and called on 'everyone' (for which read George Bush) to ratify it.
Blair also spoke of the need to strengthen security and prevent nuclear proliferation. He cannot reconcile this with his continued support for the nuclear industry - in a show of blatant hypocrisy, the Government gave BNFL permission to expand operations at Sellafield just a few days after the speech. If he is serious about building security, he needs to phase out both nuclear power and fossil fuels, the cause of climate change which will increasingly spark conflict in the future. So energy security requires a massive and urgent expansion of renewables.
Blair has raised the rhetorical stakes. As ever, our job is to hold him to his word.
