Speak on hunger for 20 minutes? That’ll be £330k, said Blair
PLANS for Tony Blair to give a speech at a world hunger conference were dropped when organisers refused to meet his £330,000 fee, it was claimed.
The former prime minister, who last week stood down as a Middle East peace envoy, was asked to address the Eat food forum which starts today in Stockholm, Sweden.
But he allegedly demanded the massive sum as a donation for his wife Cherie’s charity in order to talk. The eyewatering fee works out at £275 a second for the proposed 20-minute speech.
Mr Blair’s office insisted that while he had been approached to speak, it had been ‘logistically impossible’ due to prior engagements. The event bills itself as a forum where ‘science, politics and business can share insight and ideas to achieve our common goal of sustainably feeding a healthy world population’.
The inaugural conference, staged last year, was addressed by former US presi- dent Bill Clinton. He was paid £327,000 by the organisers f or a 30- minute address in the hope he would attract influential figures.
This year Mr Blair, 62, was approached via the Kruger Cowne talent agency because the conference believed that an appearance by such a prominent figure would maximise publicity. However he allegedly asked for a £250,000 charitable donation – plus £80,000 expenses.
Eat offered the ex- Labour l eader £125,000 but despite several months of talks, an agreement could not be reached. The organisers confirmed the deal had collapsed because ‘the fee they wanted was quite high’.
A source said: ‘Blair is just not Clinton, and even his star power is fast diminishing. So for his talent reps to think Eat was going to pay massive bucks for him shows they overestimated his worth. My impression of the asking price is it was way beyond what he was worth for Eat. Blair is also controversial. His background and history as prime minister is controversial because of the role he played in Iraq.
‘Some people don’t like his past, so when the forum organisers took that and the asking price into account, they decided to make do without him.’
Eat’s executive producer Odd Arvid Stromstad confirmed the deal had stalled over the fee. He said: ‘We were in contact but the fee they wanted was quite high, so we didn’t want to go into it.’ Mr Blair’s office insisted that they never had any direct contact with Kruger Cowne over the conference. A spokesman said the talent agency had approached the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women ‘out of the blue’.
In a statement, Blair’s office said: ‘We have never had any contact with this talent agency and they were not acting on our behalf. They approached the Cherie Blair Foundation f or Women out of the blue, representing Eat, and all of their contacts were with the Foundation.
‘They asked if Mr Blair would give the keynote speech in exchange for a donation to the Foundation, but Mr Blair was unable to do so because prior commitments meant it would be logistically impossible. This is the reason why he can’t attend.’
Mr Blair’s office insisted that any money he made would have been donated to charity. Since
‘Way beyond what
he was worth’ ‘People don’t like his past’
leaving Number 10, Mr Blair has forged a lucrative life on the international speaking circuit.
In 2007, he was reportedly paid more than £327,000 by Dongguan Guangda, a Chinese property developer, to address 600 Communist party officials, bankers and businessmen for 20 minutes. Two years later, he reportedly earned £ 400,000 f or two 30minute speeches during a visit to the Philippines.
His property portfolio is thought to be worth more than £10million. And controversial clients of Tony Blair Associates – his strategy consultancy – include the governments of Kazakhstan, with whom he had a £16million two-year deal, and Kuwait, with whom he reportedly had a £27million agreement to give advice on political and economic reform. Both countries have been criticised for human rights abuses.
Comment – Page 14 Peter McKay – Page 17