Tweet
`Tell us who pays you': Tony Blair pressured over alleged paymasters
RT.com
January 19, 2015
Conservative MPs will launch a campaign on Monday to force Tony Blair
to reveal how much he earns and who pays him.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen is tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the
House of Commons, demanding that former prime ministers be bound by
the same rules of transparency and oversight as serving politicians.
While the EDM is unlikely to be passed by parliament, it follows
growing concern over Blair's work for authoritarian governments and
controversial corporations.
Blair's business transactions have been linked to the governments of
Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - all three of which are
widely known for their human rights abuses.
Tony Blair has embarked on a career of personal enrichment and has
blurred the lines between his public and private interests,' Bridgen
told The Sunday Times.
`No other former prime minister has gone to work for other sovereign
states. Mr Blair is still in public life, but is not bound by its
principles, and that needs to be changed,' he added.
Blair, who was last year awarded GQ's Philanthropy Award, has come
under intense scrutiny as he has been linked to a string of
authoritarian regimes and less-than-ethical companies.
A consortium of energy companies, including BP, hired him last year to
work on a new gas pipeline which will go from Azerbaijan to Italy via
Turkey.
The project has come under fierce criticism for the environment
destruction it may cause and for the wealth it will give Azerjaijan's
controversial leader, Ilham Aliyev.
Aliyev, whose government has imprisoned bloggers and journalists, was
compared to a mafia don from The Godfather by US diplomats in a
Wikileaks cable published in 2010.
The former prime minister's consultancy, Tony Blair Associates,
reportedly earns £7 million a year for advising Kazakhstan's strongman
president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Nazarbayev's government has been accused of human rights abuses after
its courts forcibly closed much of the country's independent media and
his troops massacred dozens of striking oil workers at a peaceful
protest in Zhanaozen, in western Kazakhstan, in December 2011.
As if the list of unscrupulous customers wasn't long enough already,
Tony Blair Associates has also been linked to a Saudi Arabian oil
company founded by the son of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
A leaked contract, which emerged last November, showed that Blair had
been hired by PetroSaudi to help facilitate a deal between the oil
firm and Chinese state officials.
Blair, who also serves as a Special Envoy for the Middle East Quartet,
was reportedly paid £41,000 a month to carry out these duties, and
took a 2 percent cut from each successfully orchestrated deal.
Since leaving office in 2007, Blair has amassed millions of pounds in
fees collected through his consultancy firm.
Some have speculated that the former prime minister's personal fortune
could amount to £100 million, but he has implied it is closer to £20
million.
This figure will raise eyebrows, however, as it is reported his
personal expenses run into the millions.
Blair's private jet alone is worth £30 million and reportedly costs
£7,000 for every hour it is in the air.
Since leaving government Blair has also claimed a taxpayer-funded
allowance for ex-prime ministers, in addition to other state
subsidies.
A Freedom of Information request in 2012 revealed Blair was costing
the taxpayer £400,000 a year in pensions, public duties allowances and
security costs.
http://rt.com/uk/224111-blair-tory-mps-paymasters/
RT.com
January 19, 2015
Conservative MPs will launch a campaign on Monday to force Tony Blair
to reveal how much he earns and who pays him.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen is tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the
House of Commons, demanding that former prime ministers be bound by
the same rules of transparency and oversight as serving politicians.
While the EDM is unlikely to be passed by parliament, it follows
growing concern over Blair's work for authoritarian governments and
controversial corporations.
Blair's business transactions have been linked to the governments of
Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - all three of which are
widely known for their human rights abuses.
Tony Blair has embarked on a career of personal enrichment and has
blurred the lines between his public and private interests,' Bridgen
told The Sunday Times.
`No other former prime minister has gone to work for other sovereign
states. Mr Blair is still in public life, but is not bound by its
principles, and that needs to be changed,' he added.
Blair, who was last year awarded GQ's Philanthropy Award, has come
under intense scrutiny as he has been linked to a string of
authoritarian regimes and less-than-ethical companies.
A consortium of energy companies, including BP, hired him last year to
work on a new gas pipeline which will go from Azerbaijan to Italy via
Turkey.
The project has come under fierce criticism for the environment
destruction it may cause and for the wealth it will give Azerjaijan's
controversial leader, Ilham Aliyev.
Aliyev, whose government has imprisoned bloggers and journalists, was
compared to a mafia don from The Godfather by US diplomats in a
Wikileaks cable published in 2010.
The former prime minister's consultancy, Tony Blair Associates,
reportedly earns £7 million a year for advising Kazakhstan's strongman
president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Nazarbayev's government has been accused of human rights abuses after
its courts forcibly closed much of the country's independent media and
his troops massacred dozens of striking oil workers at a peaceful
protest in Zhanaozen, in western Kazakhstan, in December 2011.
As if the list of unscrupulous customers wasn't long enough already,
Tony Blair Associates has also been linked to a Saudi Arabian oil
company founded by the son of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
A leaked contract, which emerged last November, showed that Blair had
been hired by PetroSaudi to help facilitate a deal between the oil
firm and Chinese state officials.
Blair, who also serves as a Special Envoy for the Middle East Quartet,
was reportedly paid £41,000 a month to carry out these duties, and
took a 2 percent cut from each successfully orchestrated deal.
Since leaving office in 2007, Blair has amassed millions of pounds in
fees collected through his consultancy firm.
Some have speculated that the former prime minister's personal fortune
could amount to £100 million, but he has implied it is closer to £20
million.
This figure will raise eyebrows, however, as it is reported his
personal expenses run into the millions.
Blair's private jet alone is worth £30 million and reportedly costs
£7,000 for every hour it is in the air.
Since leaving government Blair has also claimed a taxpayer-funded
allowance for ex-prime ministers, in addition to other state
subsidies.
A Freedom of Information request in 2012 revealed Blair was costing
the taxpayer £400,000 a year in pensions, public duties allowances and
security costs.
http://rt.com/uk/224111-blair-tory-mps-paymasters/