Lady Thatcher, the former Conservative prime minister, has claimed more than half a million pounds of taxpayers’ money in the last five years, it emerged on Thursday.

The 86-year-old Baroness benefited from the public duties cost allowance available to former UK premiers. Between 2006 and 2011 she claimed a total of £535,000.

The system was set up by Sir John Major in 1991 to reward former incumbents of No 10 for work including answering letters and attending public events. Yet Baroness Thatcher is rarely seen in public and suffers ongoing health problems.

The public duties cost allowance was capped at just £52,760 a year in 2001 but has since risen sharply.

The allowance has cost taxpayers more than £1.7 million in the past five years supporting Baroness

Tony Blair made clear in his memoirs how he thought that introducing Freedom of Information was one of his biggest mistakes.

“You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop. There is really no description of stupidity, no matter how vivid, that is adequate. I quake at the imbecility of it.”

That view is shared by Jonathan Powell, in his excellent book “The New Machiavelli“, where he admits that New Labour ministers found FOI the bane of their lives.

This dislike of transparency appears to have remained with Mr Blair in his post-government years. The final few pages of “A Journey“, his fascinating political memoir, describe what he is up to after leaving Downing Street.

The former prime minister says “my new life takes me around the world” on a multitude of worthy causes, including his formal role as quartet envoy to the Middle East, his Faith Foundation, his work in Africa and finally his Climate Group.

He does not mention his creation of Tony Blair Associates, a sizeable private business headquartered in a luxury office block in Mayfair, with several large clients around the world. Blair does not discuss his work with clients such as JP Morgan Chase, the government of Kuwait and with Mubadala, an investment vehicle in Abu Dhabi. You can read more about his activities in our article from two years ago: “Inside Blair Inc“.

Earlier this month we heard that Mr Blair was involved in a new contract to advise the government of Khazakstan, an authoritarian state in Central Asia.

The inquiry by Lord Justice Leveson into media rules in the wake of the phone hacking scandal is massive. It is supposed to run in two parts, one looking at the specific allegations around hacking, and another looking at the broader issues of media regulation and ownership.

When David Cameron announced its remit, many people were surprised by this breadth. One of those, it seems, was Leveson himself – at least according to John Whittingdale, the chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee.

Glenn Beck, the controversial US commentator who quit Fox News this summer, has express support for Monday’s Eurosceptic rebellion in the House of Commons.

Those who wish to consolidate their power even further have united globally. It is time for freedom lovers to understand that tyranny and the ‘spontaneous’ movements around the globe are uniting.

As your ally in America, I am extending myself. We must unite. There are eighty-one of you who stood your ground. There are millions in America, the Tea Party, and all over the globe, that feel the same way and will not sit down when they know what is right.

When we begin to unite, we can work together to defeat those trying to destroy our institutions and proudly begin advancing the causes of liberty and freedom.

Beck’s often rightwing views are rather controversial. A colleague points me towards his recent advice on how to prepare for the coming “difficult times”.

LIVE NEAR LIKE MINDED PEOPLE. TEXAS, MOUNTAINS OR WHERE GOD STILL PLAYS A ROLE IN REAL LIFE
READ THE BIBLE
HAVE A GUN AND KNOW HOW TO SHOOT IT.

Those who have read “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy may be less quick to mock. But will the rebel MPs relish this new endorsement?

For true political anoraks the Telegraph has a full list of who rebelled in last night’s epic Eurosceptic uprising. The figure, including abstentions, is slightly over 50 per cent of the Tory backbenches. For David Cameron that is truly inconvenient and embarrassing; given the vote did not need to be whipped.

More sensational is the news that 49 of the 81 rebels only entered Parliament last year – and 9 of those who abstained. Partly this reflects the fact that the new intake are instinctively Eurosceptic in the main. It also shows how many feel they have no chance of advancement in the current Parliament given that the Lib Dems have squeezed the Tory share of ministerial jobs. There is also the pressing matter of the imminent boundary review, which means all MPs need to play to their constituents to ensure they keep their seats.

Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart of Nottingham University have another  great piece of analysis here today, with the immortal quote:

“First, one of our rules of rebellions is that they almost always end up being smaller than the figures that were initially bandied around: deals are done, favours called in, appeals to party loyalty are made….there is a Masada-like tendency developing on the Conservative benches that should worry the government’s business managers.”