Tony Blair's COVID-19 Pass - Following the Money

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair has been reappearing in the media, touting the need for a global COVID travel pass.  In this posting, we'll examine Blair's pet project, his links to the world's wealthiest and a reason why he may be promoting the idea of a pass as part of our post-pandemic "new normal".   

 

Let's start with this video showing Blair waxing prophetic back in June 2020 on a "digital ID" and how the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the need forward to prove their disease status to the world at large:

 

 

Here is the front-page for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website:

 

Here is Tony Blair discussing the COVID-19 pandemic, the damage being caused by governments's response to the pandemic and three recommendations for moving forward to minimize further damage:

 

Here is a paper that appeared on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website:

 

Here are some quotes from the paper with my bolds:

 

"The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns and travel bans have led to the most profound de-connecting of society since the Second World War.1 Reconnecting the world, by means of reopening international travel, is going to require a coordinated effort that manages the risks of Covid-19 and offers uniform standards on testing and vaccines across borders.

 

The emergence of several new strains of Covid-19, specifically the strains out of Kent, South Africa and Brazil, have added an additional dimension to discussions surrounding the reopening of global travel. The fact that Covid-19 mutates is not unique – all viruses do – but this virus’s mutations have included some which are much more transmissible and could potentially elude vaccines in the future.

 

In response to these new strains, the UK has introduced its strictest quarantine measures of the pandemic, including the recent reports that some inbound travellers will need to quarantine at a hotel for ten days upon arrival. It is important that the government has a plan to implement an effective process for lifting these restrictions and reenabling safe international travel as soon as possible. To facilitate this, an international Covid Pass is inevitable. In some instances travel passes are already a reality, and when they are absent – such as the disruption caused to hauliers crossing the English Channel in December 2020 after France temporarily closed its border –we have seen the human and economic consequences. The UK faces a choice: lead or be led. If we choose to wait, a confusing array of different passports await our citizens. We can avoid this and the complications of multiple passes and varying travel requirements if the UK takes the lead on developing a single, global Covid Pass. In the year of the UK’s G7 presidency, there has never been a more momentous opportunity – or need – for the government to show global leadership. This paper sets out recommendations on what that would look like....

  

As mass-vaccination campaigns roll out across the globe at dramatically different paces, disparities are already emerging between countries – with significant implications for the normalisation of international travel. Even within countries, short to medium term, there will be distinctions between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. The only way to navigate allowing people to travel internationally again will be for travellers to show their current status on Covid-19. This must include a traveller’s vaccine status and/or testing status.

 

For these reasons, we recommend the government urgently seeks to put in place a global Covid-19 travel pass, compatible across international travel systems. The UK should then lead global efforts to see this pass approved and introduced around the world."

  

Here are the recommendations made by the authors of the paper:

 

"We call on the UK, under its G7 presidency, to establish a working group that brings together health and transport ministers from the world’s largest economies, the World Health Organisation, and key organisations including The Commons Project Foundation , IATA and technology providers. This group should be convened now and by 1 June 2021, deliver:

 

1.) A global travel pass framework that allows countries to develop their own, interoperable digital and paper-based solutions

2.) Shared global standards on the types and validity of the vaccinations and tests that can be used to allow for international travel to resume safely.

3.) International agreement that validation of a vaccination or test that meets these standards would satisfy entry into a country"

 

As I am prone to do, take a closer look at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change by following the money.  Here is a list of the partners of the Institute with one particular supporter being highlighted:

 

According to the grant search function on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website, we have the following donations to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and Tony Blair's other projects:

 

Since 2014, Tony Blair's pet projects have received at least $21.8 million from the Gates Foundation.  With Microsoft being a key player in the Vaccination Credential Initiative as shown here:

 

...it is pretty clear why Tony Blair is hard-selling the "necessity" of having COVID-19 passports as part of our "new post-COVID-19 normal", particularly since Bill Gates is still a significant Microsoft shareholder (1.36 percent of outstanding shares).  It's clearly an oligarchic "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" relationship.

 

It would appear that the man responsible for the U.K.'s misguided entry into the war in Iraq hopes that his fellow Brits have forgotten all about his past misdeeds and will move forward on his recommendation for a COVID-19 travel pass.  Oh yes, and totally ignore his relationship with the world's foremost untrained vaccine promoter, Bill Gates.