Party to celebrate publication of former PM's autobiography, A
Journey, is cancelled after anti-war campaigners prepared to stage
demonstrations
Hélène Mulholland and agencies
Thursday September 9 2010
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/08/tony-blair-book-party-cancelled
Tony Blair today cancelled a second event scheduled to mark the launch
of his memoirs after anti-war campaigners prepared to mount a protest
against him.
The former prime minister confirmed his decision to postpone tonight's
event at the Tate Modern gallery in central London as it emerged that
his autobiography, A Journey, has secured record sales since being
launched last week.
Blair said he had decided to put off the party because an event that
was supposed to be a nice occasion had been ruined by the threat of
protesters frightening guests.
In a broadside to anti-war campaigners, Blair declared himself unfazed
by his detractors by claiming that "those who shout loudest do not
deserve to be heard most".
The former prime minister's efforts to promote his book have been
mired in controversy as protesters threatened to derail a series of
events.
In the latest instalment, a spokeswoman for Blair's publishers, Random
House, announced this morning that party guests had been told the Tate
Modern event had been cancelled.
The decision comes just days after Blair announced he was cancelling a
signing session due to be held at the Waterstone's book store in
London's Piccadilly this lunchtime, amid concerns over planned
protests.
The former prime minister said on Monday that he did not want to
subject the public to the "inevitable hassle" protests would cause or
use up police resources keeping order at the event.
A book signing in Dublin a few days earlier had seen eggs and shoes
hurled by protesters, with one individual attempting to make a
citizen's arrest.
Despite the protest, Blair's book has proved a hit with readers,
selling 92,060 copies in its first four days on sale last week,
according to Nielsen BookScan ? the best ever opening week sale for an
autobiography since the book sales monitor's records began, in 1998.
It put the former prime minister well ahead of Lord Mandelson, whose
book, The Third Man, sold 14,960 copies in three days when it was
published in July.
Instead of today's book signing, Blair opted for an appearance on
ITV's This Morning sofa with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby to
talk about his book.
He explained his decision to postpone tonight's event, which he said
would go ahead at another time.
"It's sad in a way because in a sense you should have the right to
sign books or see your friends if you want to but it was going to
cause so much hassle for people at the party tonight," he said.
"Friends, some of whom are not political at all. I don't mind going
through protesters, I've done that all through my political life but
for other people it can be unpleasant and a bit frightening. It's
supposed to be a nice occasion so if it's not going to be that there
are more important things to do."
He said the prospect of protesters had never deterred him from writing
the book.
"One of the things you learn in politics, in life I think, is that
those who shout loudest do not deserve to be heard most. I find most
people, even if they disagree with me very strongly, are reasonable
and pleasant and say I totally disagree with you about this or that,
but they don't feel the need to throw something at you. You have to be
very careful of mistaking those types of people for the whole of the
country."
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
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