Tony Blair to give millions to the Royal British Legion

August 16, 2010 3:24 pm by Jim Pickard

I was not the only one to react with some cynicism at the news that Tony Blair is giving proceeds from his autobiography to the Royal British Legion.

Is the gift an attempt to defuse criticism of his decision to invade both Afghanistan and Iraq? (His book-signing is set to be mobbed by anti-war protesters). Or should we just – as James Kirkup suggests – appreciate the generosity of the move?

I’ve just checked with the charity who confirm that the former prime minister is giving it all proceeds from the book; the £4.6m advance and all revenues from the books and ebooks. It will go towards a fundraising drive for a rehabilitation centre for injured military, to be built in the West Midlands in 2012.

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Jim Pickard joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the Financial Times since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.

Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.

Contributors

Elizabeth Rigby, the FT's chief political correspondent, joined the lobby team in September 2010. Elizabeth has worked at the FT for more than a decade and was most recently its consumer industries editor.

Helen Warrell is the FT's UK reporter, covering home affairs, crime and policing. She joined the FT in 2008 and has spent time as a reporter in the Brussels bureau and more recently, editing the paper's Asia coverage on the world news desk.

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