Tony and Cherie Blair under fire for £76k furlough payout
Tony and Cherie Blair face criticism for their use of the furlough scheme, following a string of companies that have been told to hand back payments.
The Blairs received a total of £76,000 during Covid lockdowns, and some MPs have called on the former Prime Minister to return the money.
For instance, betting giant William Hill opted to return £24.5m of furlough money in August 2020, citing the “strength of the post-lockdown recovery.”
Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme set up in March 2020, employers were able to claim payments to cover up to 80 per cent of the salary of staff who would otherwise be laid off. 940,000 organisations accessed the scheme.
Official documents highlighted by the Daily Mail showed payments to “Anthony Charles Blair and Cherie Blair” right up to September 2021.
A spokesperson confirmed the figures, but pointed out that the payments fell within the lowest band.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told the Mail: “The Blairs are not the only people on the scheme who don’t appear to need it, but have accessed it.
It comes after a petition gathered over one million signatures in six days to remove Tony Blair’s recent knighthood.
The creator of petition said Blair’s actions ‘caused irreparable damage to constitution of UK’ with the Iraq war.