Blair to make 40mn pounds after stepping down

LONDON: Tony Blair is expecting to make a staggering 40 million pounds from book deals and lecture tours after he steps down as British Prime Minister on June 27, media reports said on Friday.

The shape of his future emerged as he bade an emotional farewell to supporters in his Sedgefield constituency, remaining the showman to the end, The Daily Mail observed.

Blair will create a charitable foundation to forge "greater understanding" between faiths and help bring Israelis and Palestinians together.

But, as one of the architects of the Iraq war, his decision to position himself as a peace campaigner in the volatile region will surprise many, the report said.

After leaving office at 10, Downing Street, Blair will travel the world promoting his new cause. But he will make sure there is plenty of space in his diary for speaking engagements at up to 125,000 pounds a time.

Cherie Blair, repeatedly accused of cashing in on her husband's name with lucrative speaking tours, is likely to "piggy back" on his bankability by arranging her own lecture dates to coincide with his schedule.

The international speaking circuit which will provide the Blairs with the long-term income to top up the Prime Minister's 117,500 pounds a year pension and 90,000 pounds annual public service allowance which are his for life.

Assurances from his friends that he will stay on as a backbencher could not dispel speculation that he will quit the Commons in July and concentrate on earning what some estimate could be 40 million pounds in the next four years, the report said.

Blair's thirst for peace in the West Asia is said to have been reinvigorated by the success of restoring power-sharing to Northern Ireland.

He wants his foundation to concentrate on the world's most intractable conflict, rather than Africa, because there would be too much of an overlap with his old friend Bill Clinton's work and the Gates Foundation of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda.

Blair, on Thursday, brought the curtain down on his 13 years as Labour leader - and the longest goodbye in political history - with a grudging apology and a tear-stained plea for understanding.

Pursued by the horrors of Iraq, one of the most remarkable politicians of his age was reduced to begging for his place in history, mixing sentimentality with defiance.

He offered the British people "apologies to you for the times I have fallen short" but insisted: "Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right."

He insisted it was right to remove Saddam but admitted: "the blowback has been fierce, unrelenting and costly.

"For many it can't be worth it. For me, I think we must see it through.

"The terrorists who threaten us here and around the world will never give up if we give up. It is a test of wills and we can't fail," he said.

Blair's announcement that he will stand down as Prime Minister on June 27 triggered a six-week march to Gordon Brown's coronation at a Labour conference on June 24.