Blair sought £30m UAE deal

TONY BLAIR proposed a £30m contract to advise the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while working as the Middle East peace envoy, according to a confidential document on the deal obtained by The Sunday Times.

The 25-page document provides an insight into how his contacts and charitable activities are used for commercial gain.

It states: “There is virtually nowhere in the world right now where we could not work or provide the necessary contacts either politically or commercially, should we want to.”

It adds: “We have teams of people on the ground working with governments, in 10 African countries and 10 outside Africa. We have offers to work in around 10 more. If we add in the Faith Foundation work, it would be over 50.”

The document promises the “intense involvement of Tony Blair” with a commitment to spend “two to three days a month” in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

Blair’s team negotiated the proposed deal with the UAE’s foreign ministry, which is headed by the minister with whom he works in his role as peace envoy.

He has represented the Middle East Quartet since 2007, achieving scant diplomatic success while building up a fortune as a business consultant. His contacts are enhanced by his Faith Foundation and charitable work in Africa.

Chris Doyle, of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, urged Blair to resign as Middle East envoy, saying: “If he wishes to continue down a path of working for Middle East governments on huge contracts, then he cannot be the representative for the quartet and should resign. There are huge conflicts of interest.”

A Blair spokesman denied that there was a conflict of interest. He said there were discussions about working with the UAE, but there was no contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. None was planned, and the document “was not cleared” by Blair.