Tony Blair Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), commonly known by its trade name the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a non-profit organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Agenda The organisation is not a political party, but it is heavily influenced by the ideology and personal style of Tony Blair. Blair launched the Institute as a "new policy platform to refill the wide open space in the middle of politics" aimed at combating a "frightening authoritarian populism" that he says is undermining the West's belief in democracy. He has said the organisation will focus on re-energising the centre ground, African governance and Middle East policy, and fighting religious extremism. In an interview with The Guardian on 17 March 2017 the former prime minister said his Institute for Global Change was more than a think tank since it would aim to arm front-rank politicians with strategies and policies to rebuild the centre, and combat populism caused by a cultural and economic revolt against the effects of globalisation. He said: Labour's "essential duty" was to oppose Brexit at any cost, keeping open an option that allows the British people to think again if they dislike the deal agreed by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May. It was not his intention to create a movement like the En Marche! vehicle created by president Emmanuel Macron in France, but instead to help create a set of policies to address voters' anxieties caused by globalisation, including stagnating incomes and migration.