Blair: Charmed life

London, Sept. 4: First, there was The Rising. Then, there was The Trashing (from UK film critics who were hostile to the allegedly anti-British slant of the Mangal Pandey biopic).

Then there has been The Sinking (after a brief appearance at number 10 in the UK box office, the film has disappeared out of sight).

Undeterred by the less than spectacular commercial success in Britain of The Rising (the UK Film Council was hammered for putting ?150,000 into the venture), Tony Blair hopes to sign a UK-India film co-production deal when he catches up his old mate, Manmohan Singh, in Delhi later this week.

Of course, he will discuss other issues such as global warming and terrorism, the “strategic partnership with India” on the trade and business front, as well as India-EU affairs, in his capacity as president of European Union Council.

No one would think Blair’s Iraq policy has run into the sand. For over a month, he has led a charmed life.

First, he, his wife, Cherie, their four children and his eldest son’s girlfriend have had a lovely 25-day holiday in singer Sir Cliff Richard’s villa in Barbados. In marked contrast to a former Indian Prime Minister who could barely walk, the sprightly Blair, fashionable in dark glasses and trendy shorts, has been photographed on a friend’s yacht.

He flew back to London to pick up a fresh change of clothes (it’s not known if he has packed his Nehru jacket or Cherie her Babs Mahil-designed Indian outfits), and today he and his wife were off again on “Blair One” ? their hired British Airways 747 (one can be sure that Gate Gourmet, staffed by Punjabi women, won’t be doing the catering).

The couple set off from Edinburgh after the Blairs and their youngest son, Leo, attended Sunday service at a church in Crathie Kirk in Aberdeenshire with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. It is understood that they had travelled from the Royal estate at Balmoral.

Blair, who wore a black suit and blue tie, and his wife Cherie, who was dressed in silver-green and wore a turquoise necklace, smiled and waved to the crowd.

The Queen, wearing a light beige jacket and skirt with matching hat, and Prince Philip, dressed in a grey tweed suit, also smiled and waved to the crowd.

The Blairs came in a dark Jaguar, while Leo had a Land Rover all to himself. The Queen and Prince Philip came in their Bentley. At times, it was difficult to tell who were the royals.

These are troubled times when some Muslims are calling for the green flag of Islam to fly over Downing Street and Britain to be governed by Shariat law. Blair has declared he has been reading the Koran but the British, secular though they are, will be reassured that their prime minister finds time to go to church.

A report last week predicted that by 2050 more Muslims would attend mosque than Christians go to church.

At the beginning of the service there was a rendition of The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music, a fitting piece given the picturesque surroundings, which lie close to the Balmoral Estate in the heart of Royal Deeside.

On board Blair One, the Prime Minister will be preparing for intensive talks in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, and in Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday.

Blair is being accompanied by a 50-strong group of senior business leaders as well as sporting figures.

Sir Digby Jones, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said: “There has been much legitimate talk about the competitive threat posed to the developed world by the soaring growth of industries in China and India. Of course they are a challenge, but they also represent a huge opportunity.”

Jones added: “We do not export enough to either of them ? only 1 per cent of our exports at present. This must improve; we must take advantage of the increasingly wealthy markets they represent.”

He clearly does not think much can be done about outsourcing for Jones said: “The UK does not indulge in the protectionism of other nations and, as proof that this is the right course, we are the location of investment choice in Europe and one of the great trading nations. We must bring these innate qualities to bear in the two markets with the greatest potential this century.”

Other businessmen include Iain Gray, managing director of Airbus, Jan du Plessis chairman of British American Tobacco (the British believe the British should cut down on smoking but the Chinese and Indians should smoke a lot more), JCB magnate Sir Anthony Bamford, Kingfisher chief executive Gerry Murphy and the chief executive of Cobra Beer, Karan Bilimoria.

Also on the trip are former England football boss Sir Bobby Robson, the 110m hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson, film-maker Richard Curtis and Royal Ballet principal dancer Darcy Bussell.

Blair’s official spokesman said: “Within the next decade China will be the second largest economy in the world. The projections are that by the middle of this century India will be the third largest economy in the world.”

Pakistani militant leaders are too preoccupied with the fall out of 7/7 to take up Kashmir. But Blair was urged by human rights campaigners to use his time in Beijing to raise the issue of China’s long-standing military presence in Tibet.