DAILY MAIL: Tony Blair has taken a lucrative job with a U.S. bank which is profiting from the Iraq war.
JP Morgan is expected to pay him £1million a year as a part-time adviser.
It is the first of a series of posts that could see the former prime minister rake in a staggering £40million.
The move brought fierce criticism last night. Reg Keys, whose soldier son Tom was killed in Iraq in 2003, said it was "almost akin to taking blood money".
He added: "If he had a conscience or any sensitivity, he would not have taken this job".
Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said: "It will be viewed with some contempt by the armed forces that he picks up this large cheque when he was happy to send British troops into battle ill-equipped and in insufficient numbers."
JP Morgan is heading a consortium set to make billions as Iraq's economy recovers from the war spearheaded by Mr Blair and U.S. President George Bush.
It was chosen to run the new Trade Bank of Iraq, which has raised billions in trade guarantees by mortgaging future oil production and will make huge profits from the deals.
Westminster watchdogs have ordered Mr Blair not to attempt to lobby his former Government colleagues on behalf of the bank for the next 12 months.
But that appears to be no barrier to his employment prospects. The Wall Street bank said he would provide strategic and political advice, as well as appearing at events with its clients.
The former premier has said he expects to take on a "small handful" of similar posts with other companies. They will help him and his wife Cherie pay off an estimated £5million in mortgages.
Mr Blair, 54, who said he wanted his career after No 10 to be of "real purpose" rather than "just about doing a job", is already reported to be earning hundreds of thousands a month as an after- dinner speaker.
Other sources of income include a £5million deal to write his memoirs and a prime ministerial pension of £64,000 a year.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading a campaign to have him installed as the first president of the EU - a post expected to be worth at least £200,000 a year.
In all, experts believe Mr Blair can expect to pocket double the £20million earned by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Blair accused of taking blood money over £1m job with US bank profiting from Iraq war >>> By James Chapman
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Blair joins JP Morgan
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