Labour MPs slam Blair for timing of £5m memoirs

Labour MPs have criticised former prime minister Tony Blair for the timing of his memoirs which will be published in September, it was announced yesterday.

Blair received an estimated £5m for The Journey, and was advised to publish it as soon as possible after leaving office in order to maximise profits.

He may have thought he was doing his old rival Gordon Brown a favour by agreeing to save the book until after the general election, which Blair no doubt assumed Brown would lose. But following the Prime Minister's remarkable recovery in the opinion polls, he could well still be in power by September, either leading a coalition government in a hung parliament, or campaigning in a second general election.

Clearly worried any revelations from The Journey will be considerably more damaging than the bullying claims made in Andrew Rawnsley's The End of the Party, Labour MP and Brown loyalist Geraldine Smith told the Daily Mail: "It is amazing how these politicians like Tony Blair preach loyalty when they are in power, but it is easy for them to forget when they are out of it.

"It is too soon for him to publish these memoirs… We could be in a hung parliament and facing a second general election. Tony Blair may have given up on the Labour party, but some of us haven't."

A spokesman for Blair denied the choice of publication date had anything to do with the election: "By the time the memoir comes out in September it will be nearly three-and-a-half years since Blair stood down as prime minister. It just makes sense: that's all there is to it."

Blair, meanwhile, will somehow have to find time in his diary for a gruelling promotional tour - his book is to be published in 12 countries. This will be no mean feat, given he is a Middle East envoy, tours the lecture circuit and advises Zurich Financial Services and JP Morgan Chase among other duties.

However, the ever-busy Blair has at least enjoyed writing his memoirs: "I want readers to have as much pleasure reading it as I had writing it," he says.

How much pleasure Gordon Brown will feel in September is open to debate, but the PM's spokesman said: "He hasn't specifically mentioned that book, but I know he has a wide-ranging interest in books." ·