Blairs leave for five week holiday

The Browns are in Suffolk and the Camerons in Cornwall. Tony and Cherie Blair, however, have more exotic plans for their summer holidays. On Wednesday they jetted out from Heathrow (first class, of course) for a vacation that will take in Malaysia, China and France and last a full five weeks.

As is customary, the Blairs will be enjoying the hospitality of rich friends, among them, according to the Daily Mail, Bernard Arnault, who owns the Moet and Krug champagne brands (and, of course, a superyacht called Amadeus). However, the first stop on their itinerary is Kuala Lumpur, where the multi-millionaire former Prime Minister will deliver a speech to lawyers.

Despite being able to command a hefty fee for such appearances, Blair’s spokesman insisted he was giving his services for free at the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shaw law lecture. The Mail speculates that the Sultan himself, who is part of Malaysia’s royal family, will be picking up the tab when the Blairs fly by private jet to stay in luxury accommodation on one of the country’s palm-fringed islands.

After their Malaysian break, the Blairs will fly to Beijing to watch the Olympic games (in an unofficial capacity). After that, the couple will go to the South of France, where they hope to vanish into a world of luxury and privacy, returning tanned and refreshed in September. In good time to watch as Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, tries to save his political life at the Labour Party conference.