Tony Blair’s back with praise for royals

In late July, just as the UK Supreme Court ruled he wouldn’t have to contest an Iraqi war crimes suit in London, former British prime minister Tony Blair gave an interview to the London-based Al-Majalla magazine. The publication is owned by Saudi Research and Marketing Group, a company strongly connected to the kingdom’s Bin Salman rulers. Asked to point to some examples of good leaders in the Middle East, Blair said “the most obvious example” was new Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, “who’s embarking on a very ambitious but absolutely necessary programme of change”.