The former Prime Minister has four Whitehall officials working for him full-time, whom he selected personally, and is given public money for office accommodation and IT. But Mr Blair has not spoken to a Foreign Office minister since October and has never met ministers at the Department for International Development, who provide much of the support for his position as Office of the Quartet Representative. It comes on top of the £6million that British taxpayers pay out in security for Mr Blair, who will make a long-awaited appearance at the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war later this month. Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes who uncovered the costs in Parliamentary questions, said: “Everyone knows that the post of Middle East Envoy was created simply to pamper Tony Blair's ego and wasn't a serious appointment. "How could the man who helped invade Iraq possibly be seen as an honest broker in the Middle East? After two years, he has barely set foot in the Palestinian territories, preferring it seems to hole up in his luxurious hotel suite. "What we didn't know, however, was that this pointless ego trip was to be heavily funded by the British taxpayer, at the whopping cost of over half a million a year. "The fact that the Foreign Secretary has not even met Tony Blair for three months and that meetings only happen rarely in any case suggests that there is very little return for the taxpayer for the vast amounts of public money being committed. "The British government should end their funding for this pointless post now. The former Prime Minster, whose apparent willingness to engage almost any cause if there is money attached, is becoming a national embarrassment for this country and we gain nothing by being seen internationally to continue to support him." Even though Mr Blair led Britain into the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, as soon as he left Downing Street in 2007 he was given the high-profile diplomatic post of Representative of the Quartet – the UN, EU, US and Russia – in the Middle East. Based in Jerusalem, his duties were to help bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians. His position as an envoy is unpaid, although he is estimated to be earning more than £5million a year through lectures, consultancy work for financial firms and now as an adviser to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the French luxury goods giant. A series of written answers in Parliament has now disclosed the extent of the support he receives from British taxpayers. They showed that the Foreign Office provides Mr Blair with one “higher executive officer” earning up to £31,495 and one senior civil servant, earning up to £116,000. The jobs were advertised and Mr Blair "held final interviews,” according to Ivan Lewis, the Foreign Office minister. Meanwhile, the Department for International Development sends a civil servant earning up to £66,873 “to provide expert governance analysis”. A fourth civil servant in Jerusalem, earning £30,874, was also funded by the Conflict Prevention Pool, a joint project run by the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence and DfID, but is now paid for by an arm of the UN. In addition, DfID gave £400,000 to Mr Blair’s office in the 2008-09 financial year. Mr Lewis said: “This was disbursed between security, accommodation, project management, support staff and general support (IT, office equipment, insurance, etc).” However, further Parliamentary answers show how rarely Mr Blair is in contact with Government ministers about his role. Mr Lewis said: “My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary [David Miliband] meets with Mr. Blair in his capacity as the Quartet Representative and regularly speaks to him on the telephone. “Their last meeting was on 14 October 2009. Other Foreign Office Ministers have not met Mr Blair recently in his capacity as Middle East peace envoy.” Michael Foster, parliamentary under-secretary at DfID, said: “There have been no formal meetings between Tony Blair and the Secretary of State for International Development, or other Ministers in the Department of International Development, since he was appointed to this role.” Asked what Mr Blair had achieved in the two-and-a-half years he has held the role, Mr Lewis replied: “He has brought important focus on efforts to create economic development. “We have seen some real progress on the ground. There has been an estimated 5 per cent real growth in gross domestic product in 2008. This increase is due to a combination of factors especially a strong lead from the Palestinian Authority and strong donor support, but we judge that the Quartet Representative has made a valuable contribution.” A spokesman for Mr Blair added: "Since leaving Downing Street, Tony Blair has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East. He represents the USA, UN, Russia and EU, working with the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community’s effort to secure peace. He does this work unpaid and spends at least a week a month in the region. "There has been real change on the ground as a result of Tony Blair’s efforts. The economy is now flourishing in the West Bank with official statistics estimating seven percent growth for this year and unofficial Palestinian estimates in double digits. Palestinians are now able to move throughout the West Bank in ways impossible when we started pushing for changes in the access and movement regime. Moreover, trade between Israel and the West Bank has increased significantly, producing a significant economic bounce to the West Bank. "Indeed, just before Christmas Mr. Blair attended the opening of an upgraded crossing point between Israel and the West Bank, which will allow traffic to flow more freely and will encourage trade. "There have been two significant economic conferences in the West Bank that Mr. Blair has helped convene, and this has helped generate outside investment. Moreover, Mr. Blair has played a key role in helping to generate much needed revenue to support the Palestinian Authority budget, building on the Paris donor conference of 2007, which Mr Blair co-chaired. "Mr Blair was in Brussels earlier this week for meetings with US Special Envoy George Mitchell and the Paris Donors Group. Tony Blair regularly briefs the Foreign Secretary David Miliband on his work."Taxpayers' £600,000 a year bill to support Tony Blair's Middle East role
Taxpayers are spending more than £600,000 a year on civil servants and office support for Tony Blair’s role as a Middle East peace envoy.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Posts
