BF2S Forums Tony Blair's book royalty donation to Royal British Legion

The former prime minister announced on Monday that he would donate “the proceeds” from the forthcoming book to Britain’s biggest military charity.



The gesture will mean as much as £5 million is paid to the charity, it was widely suggested. It will help pay for rehabilitation facilities for seriously injured Services personnel. But Mr Blair’s office failed to answer a series of questions about how much money is involved.
The man who committed British forces to military action five times while in office was also accused of using the donation as “blood money” to appease families of those killed or injured in the conflicts.

Since standing down as prime minister in 2007, Mr Blair has amassed a personal fortune thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds. But his finances have been shrouded in secrecy and many politicians and service families remain highly suspicious of him.

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq demanded that he disclose exactly how much money the charity should expect.

Mr Blair will publish A Journey, an account of his political career, next month. It is expected to be one of the biggest-selling political books of the year.

In a statement on its website, Mr Blair’s office said he had decided to give all the money he would make from the book to the Legion. “Tony Blair decided on leaving office that he would donate the proceeds of his memoirs to a charity for the Armed Forces as a way of marking the enormous sacrifice they make for the security of our people and the world. The Royal British Legion is just such a cause,” the statement said.

The Daily Telegraph put detailed questions to Mr Blair’s office about the donation, its value and its nature.

Spokesmen for Mr Blair declined to answer many of those questions, or to supply basic information including how much his donation is worth.

A spokesman said only: “It is absolutely everything he would have made from the book” and confirmed that the gift covered all editions published in all countries “in perpetuity”.

The Legion also declined to give details, and the charity’s officials contacted its trustees asking them not to disclose any information.

It has been widely reported that Mr Blair received an advance of more than £4 million from his publishers. Global sales of his memoirs will generate hundreds of thousands of pounds more.

It is not clear whether the offer to the charity includes the advance or whether the donation will simply be “proceeds” accumulated on top of the advance, which is usually repaid to the publisher.

There are also questions over whether the eventual profits will be donated before they are taxed and whether the entire donation will be set against the tax liabilities of the complex web of companies and trusts involved in Mr Blair’s finances.

He will be under pressure to donate any fees from public speaking engagements carried out to publicise his book. John Miller, whose son Simon was one of the six military policemen killed in Iraq in 2003, questioned how much was going to reach the charity.

Last edited by Dilbert_X (2010-08-17 03:45:18)