Tony Blair asked Government for millions to support one of his Charities

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Tony Blair was rebuffed after he allegedly asked the Government for millions of pounds to support one of his charitable foundations, it has been claimed.

Tony Blair (L) wears a ceremonial robe after being made an Honorary Paramount Chief of Mahera Village on 30 May 2007 near Freetown, Sierra Leone Photo: EPA
By Peter Dominiczak, Political Correspondent
8:49AM BST 28 Aug 2013
Mr Blair, the former Prime Minister, made the request in May at a meeting with Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, according to Whitehall sources.

He is understood to have been requesting Government backing for his Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) charity.

Miss Greening is said to have turned down Mr Blair’s request and told him that he should not expect to receive any money for his foundation.

“It was a perfectly amicable conversation but the Secretary of State made clear that Mr Blair should not expect Dfid money,” a Whitehall source said.

“Justine has to personally approve any funding programme over £1 million and I think he understood this was not something the Government would look favourably upon.”

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AGI made two applications to DfID when Andrew Mitchell, the former Chief Whip, was running the department in 2011. Both requests were turned down.

AGI was set up by Mr Blair in 2008 and works in Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.

The purpose of the charity if to help African governments to run more effectively.

A DfID spokesman said: “DfID currently provides no funding to the Africa Governance Initiative and the AGI has recently made no applications for funding.

“Justine Greening met with Tony Blair to discuss development issues in May 2013.

The AGI works in several countries where DfID has a presence and it is treated like any other potential supplier when it comes to bidding for DfID work.”

A spokesman for Mr Blair denied that a request for funding had been made to Miss Greening’s department.

“No application formal or informal has been made to DfID under Justine Greening for funding for the Africa charity,” the spokesman said