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UK Foreign Office bans use of its embassies by ex-PMs/ Ministers
The British Foreign Office has banned former prime ministers and former ministers from using the facilities of her embassies abroad, “unless the visits support UK government objectives”, a statement issued by the UK Foreign Office (FO) states.
The crack-down comes in the wake of a Freedom of Information request from British Tory MP Andrew Bridgen who found that former Prime Minister Tony Blair was found to have stayed twice at the residence of the UK ambassador to the US in 2010.
Mr. Blair was also found to have stayed at the British ambassador’s residence in Paris between 2008 and 2011 at British taxpayers’ expense.
Spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo, Tom Soper told the Sunday Times last night that he was not in a position to immediately confirm whether the UK FO had issued specific instructions relating to Mr Blair, but that, he could say the former British PM (who visited Sri Lanka in August last year and last month) was not provided accommodation by the British High Commission in Colombo.
British daily, The Telegraph and other news media reported the FO imposed this ban on former prime ministers and former ministers because it wanted to prevent the “inappropriate use” of British government staff and resources, and avoid the perception abroad that these persons were representing the UK government.
Although British MP for North West Leicestershire Bridgen had asked for details relating to all the countries visited by Blair, the FO released information for only about 20 countries.
The Telegraph said the number of visits could be much higher.
The newspaper said that Mr Blair “who has made millions of pounds since standing down as prime minister in 2007″, stayed rent-free at British embassies in France and the US, at taxpayers’ expense on several occasions.
The Telegraph had previously disclosed how Blair was given the run of the British ambassador’s official residence in Manila on a trip, during which he was paid almost £400,000 for two speeches.
He is also said to have stayed at the UK embassy in Tripoli when meeting with then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on private business.
Under the new rules, there will be a general ban on embassies arranging meetings for former ministers or putting them up in official residences.
On each occasion the former British PM visited the US and France, he was accompanied by up to six people excluding his security team. The FO and Blair’s office had declined to confirm whether Blair’s wife Cherie had accompanied him.