Tony Blair is costing British taxpayers £6 million a year to protect – more than the current Prime Minister, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The former Prime Minister is understood to be the most expensive person in the country for the police to guard because of his regular foreign excursions.
More than 20 officers are now understood to be assigned to protecting Mr Blair at a cost of more than £115,000 a week.
Whitehall insiders are becoming increasingly concerned over the security costs as Mr Blair travels the world on lucrative private sector work.
It is feared that Mr Blair’s security will become even more costly next year following his appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war which could make him more of a terrorist target.
Mr Blair is typically abroad most weeks and the average bill for his close protection team of bodyguards is more than £16,000 a day, according to Whitehall sources. The protection bill is three times higher than previous public estimates.
Every time he travels abroad, Scotland Yard has to send an “advance team” to scrutinise the security risks. When he travels for longer periods, several teams of police officers have to accompany Mr Blair.
The former Prime Minister is now under pressure to make a contribution to the costs as he is estimated to have earnt more than £18 million since leaving office in June 2007.
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Since he is so wealthy it seems to me that "means testing" should be applied to him and he should cover large part of the security bill especially since he gets security to travel to make money. Frankly, why on earth he should get ANY Security when he travels abroad on his personal business? The only security he should get is that guarding the prison in the UK where he should serve life sentence for the many crimes he is responsible for.
The former Prime Minister is understood to be the most expensive person in the country for the police to guard because of his regular foreign excursions.
More than 20 officers are now understood to be assigned to protecting Mr Blair at a cost of more than £115,000 a week.
Whitehall insiders are becoming increasingly concerned over the security costs as Mr Blair travels the world on lucrative private sector work.
It is feared that Mr Blair’s security will become even more costly next year following his appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war which could make him more of a terrorist target.
Mr Blair is typically abroad most weeks and the average bill for his close protection team of bodyguards is more than £16,000 a day, according to Whitehall sources. The protection bill is three times higher than previous public estimates.
Every time he travels abroad, Scotland Yard has to send an “advance team” to scrutinise the security risks. When he travels for longer periods, several teams of police officers have to accompany Mr Blair.
The former Prime Minister is now under pressure to make a contribution to the costs as he is estimated to have earnt more than £18 million since leaving office in June 2007.
More from Telegraph.
-------
Since he is so wealthy it seems to me that "means testing" should be applied to him and he should cover large part of the security bill especially since he gets security to travel to make money. Frankly, why on earth he should get ANY Security when he travels abroad on his personal business? The only security he should get is that guarding the prison in the UK where he should serve life sentence for the many crimes he is responsible for.
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