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00:00First of all how do you think we're in you know in the middle of negotiations with Russia on Ukraine. How do you think allies of the United Kingdom are looking at Downing Street and the scandal that is engulfing the country right now. Was you know Francine Lacqua is really on to talk about adult vaccination globally but look this will be whatever it is. And frankly in the next few days there will be a report published and then it's really for the Conservative Party to make up its mind as to what it wants to do. I mean as I said in the speech last week it might be the most important thing whatever happens with this particular scandal that obviously is rightly deeply concerned people and has dominated the news. The real question for Britain is do we have a plan for the future. Because where we've got Brexit which is a change that's now happened it doesn't matter whether you opposed it or liked it but it's a change of consequence. We don't have a plan to deal with it. We've got a climate ambition that is enormous. We're going to have to for example double electricity supply in the next 10 to 15 years. And then we've got a technology revolution at the same time. So my anxiety has always been having a plan for the future of the country. And I'll leave other people to commentate on or comment on what's happening in the UK politics cauldron. And I understand that Mr.. And we'll get to this report extreme you know in a short while because it's extremely important. But overall what did the Prime Minister do now. I mean if he's broken the law is it as simple as just you know people need to force him to resign and the party. Well let's see what happens because I don't know. As I say I don't really want to turn into a commentator on what's happening in British politics. But if you take a step back and look at the big issues facing the country frankly that's what I'm most concerned with. Mr. Blair as we say dispensing is that we will certainly get onto that report and the importance of it that you've laid out with the institution. But just on on the geopolitics of the moment and Russia and Ukraine. Where is the space for cooperation do you think between a west that is partly divided and the leader of Russia Mr. Putin who you met with closely at times who seems to have increasingly saw risks like ambitions for that country. Yeah well there I think it's absolutely clear that you've got to have a strong united front. Russia's got to understand that if it does invade Ukraine it's going to face a huge set of consequences. And even though the right divisions in Europe perfectly naturally I think there's basic unity around that. And you know if if if Russia does do this because old case of Russia which is that Ukraine is about to join NATO which it obviously isn't and that the West is is trying to encircle Russia these things are so patently wrong and false that I think we've got to understand that the ambition of President Putin is essentially to say there's a Russian sphere of influence. It doesn't matter whether these countries want to be within that sphere or outside of it. That's not their choice. He's going to force it upon them. And you can't allow that to happen on the doorstep of Europe. So I think there's short term issues around how you make sure that if Russia does invade Ukraine at peace of very very heavy price for that. And then I think there are longer term questions which is which are questions really to do with for example how you ensure that that Europe is not dependent on Russian gas supplies. And I've said for many many years this is a big big problem. If we end up in a situation where Europe feels constrained to take about taking action because it worries about gas supplies for its people. And that certainly seems to be a calculus of all. Schulz the leader of course of Germany Germany not providing military hardware to Ukraine but the UK government is. We have to circumnavigate German airspace space to do that. How far do you think the UK should go in assisting military assistance to Ukraine. How far should we push it. Well I think the government's doing the right thing. It's made a strong statement a strong statement not just in terms of words but in actions in what it's done. And you know I think we will be in this instance very strongly alongside the US in saying there's got to be a united front. And you know if if if we end up in a situation where there are actually Russian forces that try and take more of the territory of Ukraine they're going to be met with strong not just sanctions but deep economic and political consequences. Mr. Blair let's talk a little bit about the report that came out. And you're trying to talk about this global vaccination system. How can it be successful. Well we've seen so much vaccination nationalism in the last two years. Yeah well that's exactly why it's so important to make sure we do it better next time. So essentially what we do in this report which is the product and the work of a lot of different experts is to say we're going to have a challenge with possibly future pandemics. And then we've also got a huge opportunity because one of the unlocked for advantages during the whole ghastly process of Covid is there's been vast advances in medical science. So what we've got to do is create a structure where globally we act in any future pandemic much much faster. We show how the world economy could be saved trillions of dollars if we do that by cooperating by ensuring that vaccines are produced and distributed much more quickly but ensuring that there's manufacturing capacity is greater spread around the world. But secondly you've got these new vaccines that are going to be coming on the market soon. And for malaria TB DNA HIV AIDS and the potential there is to save millions of lives. If we do this properly. So I got that. There it is. Of course it's been terrible but there's been enormous advances in medical science to. Yeah from a practical point of view who would make this happen. Isn't this the role of the World Health Organization. The World Health Organization is got a big role to play but we suggest the best thing is for this to become a big part of the G 20 at the end of this year because you know whatever differences there are between America and China and different parts of the world and we can see this now with with obviously with Russia and Ukraine on fighting a future pandemic or ensuring that we use these adult vaccinations to the best advantage of the world. I mean this should be something the world can unite around. The other thing is you've got the capacity today to do genomic sequencing at scale. And that in the end can transform the health infrastructures of countries. So you've got this massive opportunity. If we get ourselves organized and wherever the big issues of the day are at least one part of the world's mind and and endeavor should be directed towards this. How do you see the private sector playing a role in this in this effort. Well the private sector is got a huge role to play as indeed it did in the development of vaccines. But I think we need to make sure that there's a greater dispersal of manufacturing capacity. There are many countries in the developing world now looking at partnerships with some of the major Western pharma companies in order to build the capacity in their own country. And we've got to make sure in the future that we mobilize the manufacturing capacity fast to be able to deal with the Covid pandemic and any future pandemic. So for example if you if you think about it now there are a lot of vaccines flowing to the developing world. But we had a period of around six months where countries were short of vaccines. You can't allow that to happen again because if you do have that then you'll have the mutations happening in any virus and then you have a bigger problem even in the western countries that have vaccinated their population. So these things are pretty obvious and they're very very clear. They utilize the best advances in science and the rest of it is bringing the world together and organizing it. Mr. Blair the last time we got our vaccine Singapore and we were also talking about China as a possible stabilizing force for the world economy and maybe geopolitics. Given what's happening with Russia and Ukraine if the West is not hard enough on Putin and he invades Ukraine would that gives the green light for China to invade Taiwan. Well I hope China realizes that that would be again devastating in its impact on on on the world economy geopolitics. But I think it is important that the West gives a strong signal on Russia and Ukraine. Yes because in the end look it's a basic difference in a value system. I mean I used to have this conversation with President Putin years and years ago when I would say to him look whether these countries want to come with Europe and with NATO that's up to them. If they decide they want to go with you fine. I don't mind. And you know that's their choice. And we believe in them being free to make that choice. The problem is that he believes it's not their freedom to make that choice. They are part of our broader Russian sphere of influence. And they've got no option but to be part of it whether they like it or they don't like it. And all of these things would be much more compelling for people if the Russian economy was better. But the Russian economy is what 70 percent the size of the UK economy. So it's not the best thing frankly we'd be for these countries. Focus on how they improve their own internal economy.

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Fmr. U.K. PM Blair on U.K. Government, Ukraine, Vaccines

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair discusses the scandal surrounding Boris Johnson over allegations of rule-breaking parties in Downing Street during the pandemic, the increasing tensions between Russia and Western allies over Ukraine and the report on a global vaccination system. He speaks exclusively on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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