Opening the 2024 Future of Britain Conference ‘Governing in the Age of AI’ last week, Blair shared the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s (“TBI’s”) vision for a reimagined state. He took the opportunity to continue his years-long push for the adoption of digital IDs.
“Digital ID is an essential part of a modern digital infrastructure,” Blair told the conference. “Though we have a little work of persuasion to do here, it has to be said,” he said laughing.
Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (“TBI”)
TBI is led by Blair, who serves as the owner and executive chairman. In 2017, Blair decided to close all his commercial and philanthropic activities, including the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, the Tony Blair Governance Initiative and Tony Blair Associates. In their place one organisation was created: the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Blair launched TBI as a “new policy platform to refill the wide-open space in the middle of politics” aimed at combating a “frightening authoritarian populism” that Blair says is undermining the West’s belief in democracy. The organisation is not a political party, but it is heavily influenced by Blair’s ideology and personal style.
According to Wikipedia, Blair gave the reserves of his former business to provide the seed funding for his new Institute. In 2018, it was reported that Blair had signed a deal worth £9 million with the Saudi government to advise and support the Saudi Crown Prince’s modernisation programme.
A few months later, TBI’s financial accounts confirmed the Saudi payment and also showedcontributions from the US State Department, the Canadian government, some African governments and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, a charity set up by a Ukrainian billionaire.
According to its latest financial accounts, for 2022, the Institute had a staff of 514 people; its income for the year was £121 million and its expenses were £95 million. The table below is taken from TBI’s 2022 accounts and shows its partners, and donors and funding partners.
You will note the involvement of some of the usual suspects such as The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UN agencies. There are also other interesting partners and donors such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Muslim World League, the University of Oxford and Starlink.
Currently, TBI has over 750 staff impacting more than 30 countries.
TBI is a member of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition. Its member page states: “The Institute will provide online education solutions to help young people become global citizens, building empathy across boundaries and challenging misinformation, in a safe environment.” TBI also lobbies the European Commission on topics such as artificial intelligence, digital identification and Ukraine.
In February 2024, Sir Patrick Vallance – former Government Chief Scientific Adviser during covid and recently appointed UK Minister for Science – joined TBI’s “team of expert Strategic Counsellors,” alongside former Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter.
On the same day as the Future of Britain Conference, TBI released a series of reports titled:
- Governing in the Age of AI: Reimagining the UK Department for Work and Pensions
- Prosperity Through Health: The Macroeconomic Case for Investing in Preventative Health Care in the UK
- The Economic Case for Reimagining the State
Chapter 3 section 3 of the ‘The Economic Care for Reimaging the State’ report relates specifically to digital ID. Within the digital ID section, it notes that released alongside the report was a “new TBI analysis” titled ‘The Economic Case for a UK Digital ID’. The analysis states:
A citizen’s digital ID would contain a single unique identifier, which would help link the user with public services. Each service would retain its own unique identifier such as an NHS number or Unique Taxpayer Reference.
As The Sociable noted, TBI’s report claims that digital ID can be used for everything from integrating “personal health records and personal data” to streamlining taxation and welfare payments, as well as for managing refugees and asylum seekers.
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