Bureau Recommends: How has Blair made his millions?
How has Tony Blair managed to become the highest-paid former prime minister in history?
Channel 4’s Dispatches has revealed that Tony Blair has earned millions from contracts in the Middle East, many of which have come from contacts he deals with through his diplomatic role as Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East.
Since his resignation in 2007, Tony Blair has become the highest-paid former British prime minister in history.
The programme reports that in addition to his seven homes, he has lucrative contracts including £9m for public speaking, £500,000-a-year for advice to Swiss insurers Zurich and £2m-a-year as an adviser to J.P. Morgan.
But according to Dispatches, Mr Blair has also combined diplomatic visits for the Quartet with business deals for his consultancy firm Tony Blair Associates (TBA).
Peter Oborne reports that in 2009 Mr Blair went on an official Quartet visit to Kuwait with his TBA business partner, and former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell. Shortly afterwards TBA was awarded a contract with Kuwait worth a reported £27m, though a spokesperson insisted the amount was far less.
Mr Blair also regularly visits the ‘repressive monarchy’ of Abu Dhabi to discuss religious affairs and climate change. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince is also a client of TBA.
Oborne reports that it is impossible to know Mr Blair’s full earnings as at the heart of his ‘complex financial structures’ are two entities known as ‘limited partnerships’ that by law do not have to publish their accounts.
Meanwhile, he says, ‘we know almost nothing about the rules that govern what he does’ as Envoy of the Quartet – an unpaid role – but one with substantial expenses funded in part by British taxpayers.
Oborne asks, how do we separate Mr Blair’s public role as Envoy of the Quartet, from his private business ventures?
‘On the one hand our former prime minister is promoting peace in the Middle East, at the same time he is earning millions from an autocratic regime in the same region.’
