Blair takes first step to book deal

Tony Blair has recruited the man who secured a deal for Bill Clinton's memoirs to tout his own account of government.

Robert Barnett, a US lawyer, will handle the sale of the former prime minister's memoirs to publishers.

Mr Barnett, is believed to have secured $12 million (£6m) for the ex-US president's book and industry insiders believe Mr Blair could earn a similar amount.

His popularity in the US due to the support he provided to George Bush post 9/11 is likely to inflate the sum Mr Blair will receive for an account of his life and time in Downing Street.

The ex-prime minister will have to fit in writing the book with his role as the Middle East envoy for the Quartet of world powers - the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.

Whether Mr Blair will lift the lid on his strained relationship with his successor remains to be seen.

His former spin doctor Alastair Campbell voluntarily removed details that could have embarrassed Gordon Brown from his book, saying he would not reveal anything to harm the Labour Party.

Mr Campbell reputedly earned more than £1 million from his diaries, while former Home Secretary David Blunkett is believed to have been paid £385,000.

And ex-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is currently in negotiations to sell his life story, for an estimated £500,000.

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