BRITAIN: TONY BLAIR JOINS WALL STREET BANK AS MILLION-A-YEAR PART-TIME ADVISER
Alex Miller
Tony Blair, who resigned as British prime minister last May, has signed a lucrative deal with leading Wall Street bank JP Morgan.
According to the January 10 BBC News, although precise details of the former Labour Party leader’s salary are unknown, it is estimated that JP Morgan will pay him US$1 million (over Aus$1.1 million) per year for his services as a part-time adviser.
According to the BBC “JP Morgan, one of Wall Street's leading banks, is part of JP Morgan Chase & Co, a global financial services firm with assets of US$1.5 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries”.
Blair has been raking in the cash since resigning as PM. The January 11 London Guardian reported that Blair has been earning as much as £500,000 (Aus $1.1 million) for speaking engagements, and he also has a contract worth £5.8 million (Aus $12.8 million) with Random House publishing firm for his memoirs.
A statement issued by the bank said, “Tony Blair will bring our leaders and clients a unique and invaluable global perspective that is especially critical in turbulent times like these”. JP Morgan is one of the banks affected by the crisis in the US “subprime” mortgage market that has been driving the global “credit crunch”. In the JP Morgan statement, Blair said: “I look forward to advising them on how they approach the huge political and economic changes that globalization brings”.
According to the Guardian “Senior figures in the bank were already known to Blair. George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, is chairman of the bank's international advisory council, and held a party in Blair's honour at his California home when the then prime minister travelled to the US on government business”.
In addition to the JP Morgan job, Blair is also a runner for the post of president of the European Council – effectively “president of Europe” – a post created by the EU reform treaty, recently signed by current PM Gordon Brown, in breach of a commitment made in Labour’s 2005 general election manifesto. According to the BBC, Blair was publicly backed for the EU post by right-wing French President Nicolas Sarkozy in October last year.
In the January 11 Morning Star, Respect MP George Galloway attacked Blair’s appointment at JP Morgan. Galloway stated: “It’s disgusting, disreputable and Blair on the gravy train, but it was entirely expected”.
