Blair's cash boost for Calum - Update

Update 9 March

This story has now been covered by the Times, Western Mail and Carmarthen Journal. Nothing yet from the South Wales Guardian, at least not in its online offering.

An unnamed spokesperson for Labour said that the party was "delighted" to accept Blair's donation. Meanwhile at least one Scottish Labour constituency candidate (Dundee East) has turned down the money.

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Cllr Calum Higgins, who last week joined Kevin Madge, Meryl Gravell and all the other usual suspects in voting through a package of cuts, including a £200,000 reduction in support for children with disabilities and special educational needs, new charges for school transport for children aged 16+ and a raft of above-inflation increases in council tax, school meal and car parking charges, has accepted a £1,000 donation from Tony Blair who has been doling out a small part of his vast fortune to the Labour Party's target seats in the coming election.

Ever since he left office Blair has devoted his energies to developing his bank balances, hiring himself out to the banks which nearly destroyed the economy, energy companies which have rigged the energy market and a whole string of the world's most repulsive dictators. 

Among Blair's business dealings is a deal said to be worth $13 million to advise and promote the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev's regime has gunned down strikers, killed opposition politicans and burned down the offices of opposition parties.

When Nazarbayev's troops gunned down 14 unarmed protesters, Blair wrote to the dictator to say "tragic though they [the deaths - Ed.] were, they should not obscure the enormous progress" Kazakhstan had made.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM has called on Calum Higgins to hand his tainted money back.  "Instead of flooding Carmarthenshire with his money, Blair should arguably be in front of The Hague for war crimes", he said.