PR Week Echo Columns

The prospect of Tony Blair earning an estimated £2½m a year from his new role providing "strategic advice and insight on global political issues and emerging trends" (Guardian, 10 Jan) was compounded by the fact that his employer, US investment bank JPMorgan, is heavily involved with underwriting the reconstruction of Iraq. Reg Keys, father of a soldier killed in Iraq, said it was "almost akin to taking blood money" (Daily Mail, 11 Jan). Columnist Tony Parsons accused Blair of "sticking his snout in a trough of his own making" (Daily Mirror, 12 Jan).
His new boss, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chief Executive, told the Financial Times "we hit it off" and that Blair would be "enormously valuable" to the company (9 Jan), but there was also speculation that he would have to relinquish the position if French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 'campaign' to install him as the first President of the EU succeeded (FT, 15 Jan). Several writers grumbled about the "speed with which Blair has moved to cash in on contacts and knowledge gained during his time as Prime Minister" (Sunday Express, 13 Jan). Marina Hyde compared Tony and Cherie Blair's passion for money and celebrity with another couple, dubbing them "Beckhams with law degrees" (Guardian, 12 Jan).