I’m not super rich insists multi-millionaire Blair
TONY Blair was branded out of touch last night after claiming he is ‘absolutely not’ in the league of the super rich.
The former prime minister, who entered the election fray for Labour this week, claimed that his earnings go towards the ‘infrastructure’ around him.
In an interview, he said: ‘I could not do what I do unless I was also able to generate income. Am I better off than most people? Yeah, I’m very lucky. Am I in the league of the super rich? Absolutely not, though you will have to make up your own mind about that.’
Mr Blair earns millions of pounds a year from his consultancy roles and charges fees of £250,000 for public speaking.
Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke said last night: ‘First we had “Two Kitchens Miliband” lecturing people from his £2million mansion and now multi-millionaire Tony Blair declaring he doesn’t think he is “super-rich”.
‘It shows just how out of touch the champagne socialists at the top of the Labour Party are.’
Since Mr Blair left No.10 in 2007, he has established a complex network of companies, which makes it impossible to calculate his exact earnings.
He rarely discusses his wealth, although he has dismissed reports that he has amassed £100million as ‘greatly exaggerated’, and his allies say he has given millions of pounds to charity.
Mr Blair has suggested that in fact, he is worth less than £20million, though he and his family are thought to own property worth at least £30million. His five- storey central London home and its accompanying mews house is thought to be worth at least £8million, while his Grade I-listed manor house in Buckinghamshire, once owned by Sir John Gielgud, is thought to be worth a similar amount. He and wife Cherie own another seven properties.
In the interview with Newsweek magazine, Blair also explained why he works mainly outside of his home country: ‘I’ve done British. I suppose where I think I can make most difference is at a global level, working on things that had interested me as prime minister but was not able to devote myself to in the same way.’
In what may be interpreted as criticism of Mr Miliband, as well as other political leaders, he also warned that the ‘centre ground is not leading strongly’. He added: ‘Then you get what I would say are basically quack remedies being peddled by the more extreme versions of Left or Right.
‘Practical evidence-based solutions get squeezed out in favour of policy positions that can be emotionally attractive but practically foolish or even dangerous.’