Nice work if you can get it

Last weekend saw the revelation that £250,000 is spent every year on bodyguards for former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.  Whilst I cannot deny that there is unfortunately a need for such protection for any former PM, I do have to wonder if the cost is not a little excessive.

The protection itself is provided by officers of the Metropolitan Police and consists of round-the-clock protection for Mr. Blair and his family.  When the whole range of protection provided is taken in to account, the yearly cost to the taxpayer is nearer £6m.

Mr. Blair - free from expenses scrutiny

It is not so much the cost of the protection itself that makes this figure so high, rather the expenses run up by the officers in question.  Whilst protecting Mr. Blair and his family, the officers have access to the Metropolitan Police Barclaycard in order to cover any expenses run up in the course of their duty.  Apparently such expenses include £1.20 bags of sweets, stays in five-star hotels and dinners at high-end restaurants.  In fact, such reckless spending resulted in a £20,000 bill for the taxpayer after the Blairs'  two-week holiday in Borneo last summer.

As well as a gold-plated expenses account, the officers concerned are extremely well paid for their work.  It is widely accepted that overtime in such roles is amongst the best in the business.  It certainly is when you find out that officers protecting Mr. Blair on foreign soil get paid triple-time for the privilege!  I imagine their salaries aren't to be sniffed at in the first place.

One would hope that the taxpayer is getting their money's worth for this kind of expenditure.  Does the Met have their own secret squad of ninjas?  Are we hiring the A-Team?

No.

It would appear that £6m a year barely covers being able to afford competent staff that know how to handle a weapon in a public place.  For that much money, I'd hope to get a bodyguard that doesn't accidentally fire their gun in an Israeli airport, or leave their gun in a public toilet.


Given the amount of money that the Blairs now have, I feel that it is quite unreasonable to expect the taxpayer to fund protection to cover their every move.


Whilst we must ensure that any former Prime Minister, regardless of reputation or party, is adequately protected in their day-to-day life, I feel that paying officers to go on holiday with them is somewhat beyond our remit.  Perhaps it should be up to Mr. Blair himself to fund such protection when he decides to leave the country on an international jolly?


In fact, this was suggested to Mr. Blair's office not long after the story broke.  Their response?


It wouldn't be possible because Mr. Blair doesn't get paid for most of his work...