Alex Massie Alex Massie

Blair Donates Book-Lucre to British Legion

Smart man, Tony Blair:

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to donate the profits from his memoirs to a sports centre for badly injured soldiers.

A spokesman said Mr Blair would hand over the reported £4.6m advance payment plus all royalties to honour “their courage and sacrifice”.

The Royal British Legion will receive the money, Mr Blair’s office has confirmed.

Not that this will be popular with other politicians who may find themselves pressed to make comparable gestures when it comes to the proceeds – if there be any – of their own memoirs. How about it, Gordon*?

Needless to say, there’ll be plenty of folk ready to interpret this move as proof positive that there’s no bottom to Blair’s cynicism. And who knows, perhaps they’d be right? Right? Or perhaps (even!) Tony Blair’s motives could be as transparent as he’d like us to believe them to be.

*UPDATE: Commenters suggest that Gordon has already actually promised to do this. I must have missed that.

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