PR experts react to Blair's £4.6m charity donation

"Whether you love him or loathe him, this announcement is an interesting PR move from Tony Blair - both in its content and timing,” exclaims David Brown, head of editorial at Lewis PR.

“It caught some opponents off guard and has helped to stem some of the negative publicity around his book. In fact, I’m sure the publishers will be delighted with the headlines as it keeps the memoirs firmly in the spotlight.

“This is a large sum of money which could make a real difference and it places critics in an awkward position. Would they rather the Royal British Legion not have the funds?” continues Brown.

PR expert, Max Clifford told The Drum that the donation by Blair would have been damned by a predominantly Conservative media whether he had chosen to donate the money or not.

“No matter what spin Tony Blair tried to put on it he would be attacked by the Conservative media like The Mail, The Telegraph and The Sun. They all seem to forget that at the time they all were supporting him and his decision to go in and attack,” says Clifford who adds that the money will at least go towards supporting those who have been injured as a result of the war.

“He would have been aware that he would receive a lot of criticism for this and will have taken that on board. No matter who your PR person is or what PR advice was given, that would have happened. It’s a simple fact of life,” Clifford adds.

Ross Laird, director of Grayling Edinburgh, concurs that Blair will have been fully aware of the reaction the media would have while choosing the charity which would benefit from the book royalties.

“It was inevitable that the news would put his decisions as Prime Minister back into the spot light. It is more difficult to understand the motivations behind the move - benevolence, guilt, self promotion? A mixture of all of the above,” continues Laird.

The choice of charity is the right one, believes James Turgoose, head of parliamentary affairs at JBP PR, who says that it has long been known through Blair’s office that he planned to donate the proceeds to charity.

“Some will suggest that a veterans organisation is a fitting choice given that Blair’s Government will be remembered, above all else, for its foreign adventures. It’s also the case that the Labour Government was regularly criticised for it’s perceived under funding of the military.”

Max Clifford adds that the easy option for Blair would have been to choose a children’s charity, or one completely unrelated to the military in an effort to avoid negative publicity or generate goodwill.

He continues to say that the decision will naturally rake up old ground.

“A lot of people naturally think that we shouldn’t be there, we shouldn’t be fighting and I can understand that view. It’s not something that will ever go away all of the time that we are there and all of the time that we are losing lives. The easy option would have been for him to give the money to another charity, a children’s charity, to children’s hospices, something like that so there was not a direct involvement.”

Meanwhile, Nathan Lane, managing director of Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger says that whether the donation was made or not, the coverage of his memoirs would have generated plenty of press coverage on its own.

“I would suggest that when the net result is a lot of money going to a great cause it doesn’t really matter if Tony Blair’s donation is a philanthropic gesture or a PR ploy,” explained Lane. Blair’s legacy will be as the leader who took us into the Iraq war and I am sure he would rather be remembered for his contribution to the Good Friday agreement. This donation will be a sideshow if the Dr David Kelly inquest goes ahead.”

Tony Blair’s memoirs will go on sale next month.