Tony Blair

A fringe event for One World Action at Labour's 1997 conference, chaired by Sir Robin Day and addressed by Cherie and Tony Blair

Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Labour Party. He resigned from the position in June 2007.

In January 2008, the Financial Times reported that Blair had agreed to become a part-time adviser to the global financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The newspaper reported that Blair "will use his experience and contacts to provide political and strategic advice to the US bank and participate in some client events." Blair resigned as leader of the parliamentary wing of British Labor Party in June 2007. While the fee for the position has not been disclosed, a New York recruitment firm suggested that it "was likely to be more than $1m (£500,000) a year." Blair stated that he was looking at accepting "a small handful" of similar positions with other companies. "I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of globalisation. Nowadays, the intersection between politics and the economy in different parts of the world, including the emerging markets, is very strong," he said.

In Government

Blair had been widely criticised from within his own party for championing the policy on Iraq of U.S. President George W. Bush. There is a general perception in the UK that Blair repeatedly misled the UK parliament and public in echoing the U.S. claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that invading and occupying Iraq was legal. As a result, some Members of Parliament have formed a group to call for impeachment hearings.

Further pressure was put on Blair in September 2004, during the UK Labour Party conference, when the London Evening Standard newspaper published details of a leaked Pentagon briefing paper, Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategic Lessons Learned. The document reveals that in October 2002, the Pentagon finalized its Full Operational Battle Plan 1003V for the Iraq war, at a time when Blair was insisting that no decisions had been made about whether to go to war.

Tony Blair is a member of the Fabian Society, the America APPG, and patron of the Foreign Policy Centre.

Sources of income

Before Tony Blair announced that he would be resigning his prime ministerial post it became known (not officially announced) that he had been offered a position at the Carlyle Group, the largest US private equity firm which is heavily involved the armaments industry. It also became known that the Murdoch-press would publish his memoirs once these became available, and £4.5million signing fee had been agreed.

While Blair's mostly-symbolic role as "mediator" in the Middle East has impeded him pursuing the lecture circuit, the announced rate for one lecture in China was US$500,000. On 9 January 2008, it was announced that Blair would become a "part-time senior adviser, on a salary said to exceed $1m (£500,000) a year" at JP Morgan Chase.

Blair's Nuclear Stance

The Sourcewatch page is good on Tony Blair's nuclear stance.

Affiliations

• Senior advisor, JP Morgan (http://www.jpmorgan.com/) - Investment bank
• The Other Club, member since 1991

External links

• Aaronovitch, David, "A Different Kind of Compassion," Media Lens, 10 January 2008.
• BBC, "Tony Blair joins investment bank," 10 January 2008, accessed 24 November 2008.
• Hamer, Rupert, "Tony Blair to join Carlyle Group?" Sunday Mirror, 22 August 2005, accessed 24 November 2008.
• Ungoed-Thomas, Jon, et al., "Revealed: how minister cashed in on contacts," The Sunday Times, 23 November 2008, accessed 24 November 2008.
• Wearden, Graeme, "Blair joins JP Morgan as $1m-a-year adviser," Guardian, 10 January 2008, accessed 24 November 2008.