It is just one of many money-spinning engagements that are expected to take his earnings to £15m by July, two years since his departure from Downing Street. Blair is now facing serious questions over his commitment as a Middle East envoy to the quartet of the United Nations, United States, Europe and Russia. ... Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's ambassador to the UN, said that Blair was asked last October to address the council on his progress, but has not yet done so, nor has he set foot in Gaza. ... "We wanted to know what Blair was doing in Gaza . . . we need to know what the quartet envoy is doing. He has never been to Gaza. It is now three months [since Blair was asked]." Last week Gordon Brown let slip that his long-term rival was still on holiday - prompting Blair to embark on a flurry of broadcast interviews. ... While performing his duties in the Middle East, Blair holds court at the American Colony hotel in east Jerusalem. He hires an entire floor of the hotel at a cost to the public purse of about £700,000 a year. ... According to details of his schedule obtained by The Sunday Times, Blair's upcoming commitments include the climate conference in Abu Dhabi on January 21, a university talk near Boston on February 2 and a trip to a California theatre where tickets cost up to $380 each. Blair ranks as the most expensive speaker in the world. His agents at the Washington Speakers Bureau typically charge $250,000 (£164,000) for a 90-minute speech. He is also paid about £2m a year by JP Morgan Chase and a further £500,000 a year by Zurich Financial Services. The deal for his memoirs is worth a reported £4.6m.
Blair is now facing serious questions over his commitment as a Middle East envoy to the quartet of the United Nations, United States, Europe and Russia. ...
Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's ambassador to the UN, said that Blair was asked last October to address the council on his progress, but has not yet done so, nor has he set foot in Gaza. ... "We wanted to know what Blair was doing in Gaza . . . we need to know what the quartet envoy is doing. He has never been to Gaza. It is now three months [since Blair was asked]."
Last week Gordon Brown let slip that his long-term rival was still on holiday - prompting Blair to embark on a flurry of broadcast interviews. ...
While performing his duties in the Middle East, Blair holds court at the American Colony hotel in east Jerusalem. He hires an entire floor of the hotel at a cost to the public purse of about £700,000 a year. ...
According to details of his schedule obtained by The Sunday Times, Blair's upcoming commitments include the climate conference in Abu Dhabi on January 21, a university talk near Boston on February 2 and a trip to a California theatre where tickets cost up to $380 each.
Blair ranks as the most expensive speaker in the world. His agents at the Washington Speakers Bureau typically charge $250,000 (£164,000) for a 90-minute speech.
He is also paid about £2m a year by JP Morgan Chase and a further £500,000 a year by Zurich Financial Services. The deal for his memoirs is worth a reported £4.6m.
Blair holds court at the American Colony hotel
You can't make this up... "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
I thought he'd left Parliament keep to the Fen Causeway
