Blair , Blair , Blair , he has to keep getting in the news doesn't he , Blair!!!!

Blair gets another business job

Mr Blair said business could work to prevent climate change

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to work for a second major financial firm.

He will advise the Swiss insurer Zurich on "developments and trends in the international political environment", including climate change.

The appointment comes less than three weeks after Mr Blair took on a similar role with investment bank JP Morgan worth a reported £500,000 a year.

Mr Blair said he wanted to ensure business "can play its part" in preserving the environment.

'Excited'

Zurich was unavailable to comment on how much he will be paid and how much time he will spend working for the company, which has about 58,000 staff and operates in 170 countries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7213355.stm


Tony Blair joins investment bank

Tony Blair is said to be providing "political and strategic advice"

Tony Blair has taken a part-time post with US investment bank JP Morgan.

Mr Blair, who stood down as UK prime minister in June last year, has been employed "in a senior advisory capacity", the bank said.

He said he looked forward to advising the bank on the "political and economic changes that globalisation brings".

It is not known how much JP Morgan will pay him, but some estimates say more than $1m (£500,000) a year. The bank said he had a "unique perspective".

It said Mr Blair would advise the firm's chief executive and senior management team, "drawing on his immense international experience to provide the firm with strategic advice and insight on global political issues and emerging trends".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7180306.stm


Tony Blair joins Catholic Church

Tony Blair visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in June

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Anglican Church to become a Roman Catholic.

His wife and children are already Catholic and there had been speculation he would convert after leaving office.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who led the service to welcome Mr Blair, said he was "very glad" to do so.

But ex-Tory minister Ann Widdecombe - herself a Catholic convert - said Mr Blair's voting record as an MP had often "gone against church teaching".

Last year, Mr Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, said he had prayed to God when deciding whether or not to send UK troops into Iraq.

And one of Mr Blair's final official trips while prime minister was a visit to the Vatican in June where he met Pope Benedict XVI.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7157409.stm