Pension pays £800k already

TONY Blair has already pocketed more than £800,000 from his statefunded pension – despite only turning 65 on Sunday.

In the 11 years since leaving Downing Street he has been drawing from the pot. As a former PM, he has been entitled to claim half his prime ministerial salary as pension every year from the day he walked out of No 10.

He has taken the payments, despite earning a fortune as an international business consultant. His successors Gordon Brown and David Cameron waived their right to the ultra-generous deal.

He once joked about claims he had amassed £100million since leaving office, insisting it was nothing like as much. A spokesman for Mr Blair said: ‘Tony Blair receives what is given to former prime ministers in exactly the same way as his predecessors.’