By Stone Martindale Dec 28, 2006, 3:58 GMT
Apparently Tony and Cherie Blair have some really cool friends, truly generous and quite accomodating, and it is working every last nerve of the unforgiving British press corps who have wasted no time outlining the PM's vacations over the last few years.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair talks to reporters on December 19, 2006 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Blair is on the final day of a five-day visit to the Middle East and will talk to business leaders in the city later. EPA/Peter Macdiarmid
After he was blasted over his summer holiday accommodations, Tony Blair was, we imagine, wishing to keep his plans for some winter fun in the sun with his family on the proverbial "QT."
Well, there was a miscalculation, or something that caused his British Airways jet to overshoot the runway at Miami International airport on Tuesday, crushing some landing lights and sending a ton of journalists and paparazzi to the scene.
All of the 343 passengers got off the plane unharmed, including clan Blair, but the jig was up, and his secret was out. The Blair's were said to be heading for the waterfront home of the Bee Gees singer, Robin Gibb.
The Guardian and other Brit news organiations have wasted no time pointing out that their PM is a bit of a convenient traveler, "a Blair family tradition to holiday in the properties of their rich and famous friends."
The Guardian lists the past holidays at Cliff Richard's Barbados villa, Prince Girolamo Strozzi's palatial digs, and Silvio Berlusconi's Sardinian mansion.
The Blair's travel in style, and stay in style, and that does not sit well with some in his own country.
"The three-storey house, built in 1948 and bought by Gibb in 1983 for just $950,000, sits on one of Miami's 'millionaires rows.' Two doors away, another of the Gibb brothers, Barry, has a $16m residence, complete with tennis court, while other neighbours include the singer Ricky Martin, the Hollywood star Matt Damon." Crowed the Guardian Unlimited.
Florida is a much more low-key environment for celebrities and the famous, maybe it's the humidity.
The Guardian cites politics shadowing Blair's choice of holiday, citing that "the Gibb brothers have been leading voices of the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters' call to the government to tighten copyright protection for artists. According to the organisation's website, its duties involve: 'Regularly talking to UK and EU politicians ... and campaigning to protect the value of copyright.' "
Conservative pol Chris Grayling snipped to the Guardian: "Another year, another celebrity holiday and yet more questions about Tony Blair's judgement...trouble is that he doesn't seem to realise that when he does things like this it just causes more damage to the reputation of politicians as a whole."
Gibb's manager, John Campbell, put it bluntly: "It's a private holiday and a private arrangement."
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