Rich obsession

London, Dec. 27: Tony Blair has been accused of “cheapening” the office of Prime Minister after it emerged he is spending a family holiday in Florida as a guest of Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees star.

A senior Conservative MP criticised Blair for accepting a string of “freebie” holidays from wealthy acquaintances, including Sir Cliff Richard and Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian Premier.

Blair and his family are staying at the luxurious Florida home of Gibb, who is a Labour supporter and appeared as a “warm-up” artist for Blair at one of the party’s rallies in Huddersfield during last year’s general election campaign.

Henry Bellingham, the Tory MP for Norfolk North West, said: “This is another example of the Prime Minister’s obsession with very rich people, an obsession which has already lead to the cash for peerages scandal. “This is yet another freebie holiday and I fear it cheapens the whole office. This is not something Prime Ministers should be doing while they are in office.”

John Campbell, Gibb’s manager, said: “It’s a private holiday and it’s a private arrangement. They are friends.”

In 2000, while Cherie and Tony Blair were on a holiday at Sir Cliff’s villa in Algarve, Portugal, Euan Blair grabbed headlines for his drunken escapades in Leicester Square, London. Tony Blair was also staying at the singer’s home in Barbados when the alleged “liquid bomb” airline plot was discovered this summer. He returned early to London a few days later.

At a holiday with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Sardinia, Italy, the millionaire was forced to seek hospital treatment for a leg injury sustained when his British counterpart “ran into” him during a five-a-side football match.