Blair accused of taking blood money over £1m job with US bank profiting from Iraq war

JPMorgan is expected to pay him £1million a year as a part-time adviser.

It is the first of a series of posts that could see the former prime minister rake in a staggering £40million.

The move brought fierce criticism last night. Reg Keys, whose soldier son Tom was killed in Iraq in 2003, said it was "almost akin to taking blood money".

He added: "If he had a conscience or any sensitivity, he would not have taken this job".

Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said: "It will be viewed with some contempt by the armed forces that he picks up this large cheque when he was happy to send British troops into battle ill-equipped and in insufficient numbers."

JPMorgan is heading a consortium set to make billions as Iraq's economy recovers from the war spearheaded by Mr Blair and U.S. President George Bush.

It was chosen to run the new Trade Bank of Iraq, which has raised billions in trade guarantees by mortgaging future oil production and will make huge profits from the deals.

Westminster watchdogs have ordered Mr Blair not to attempt to lobby his former Government colleagues on behalf of the bank for the next 12 months.

But that appears to be no barrier to his employment prospects. The Wall Street bank said he would provide strategic and political advice, as well as appearing at events with its clients.

The former premier has said he expects to take on a "small handful" of similar posts with other companies. They will help him and his wife Cherie pay off an estimated £5million in mortgages.

Mr Blair, 54, who said he wanted his career after No.10 to be of "real purpose" rather than "just about doing a job", is already reported to be earning hundreds of thousands a month as an after-dinner speaker.

Other sources of income include a £5million deal to write his memoirs and a prime ministerial pension of £64,000 a year.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading a campaign to have him installed as the first president of the EU - a post expected to be worth at least £200,000 a year.

In all, experts believe Mr Blair can expect to pocket double the £20million earned by former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

MPs on all sides expressed unease at the bonanza. Dr Des Turner, the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, said: "He's cashing in big time.

"Millions of people slog all their lives, make enormous sacrifices and end up with pitiful pensions. They don't get rewarded on this sort of scale.

"But I don't know how we can make a rule to stop American banks paying people to give advice on inflated salaries."

Mr Blair is currently serving as an unpaid international peace envoy in the Middle East.

He has also set up the Blair Foundation to promote interfaith dialogue and sporting endeavour.

He said of his JPMorgan role: "I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of globalisation.

"Nowadays, the intersection between politics and the economy in different parts of the world, including the emerging markets, is very strong."

The job was brokered by Washington lawyer Robert Barnett, who also negotiated Mr Blair's book deal.

In 2006, during a taxpayer-funded trip to California, Mr Blair attended a glitzy cocktail party hosted by Charlotte Schultz, whose husband George is chairman of JPMorgan's international advisory council.

The trip was branded Mr Blair's "gissa job" tour.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said last night that he had had "nothing to do with" the decision to award the Iraq bank contract to the JPMorgan consortium.

He also said most of Mr Blair's time would still be spent on his Middle East role.

Mr Blair's race to collect posts in the private sector takes him down a road most former Labour premiers have studiously avoided.

Jim Callaghan and Harold Wilson restricted their post-Downing Street activities to writing, TV and, in Lord Callaghan's case, farming.

Lord McNally, Lord Callaghan's political secretary, said last night: "In those days, it was very much the feeling that you took your pension and retired."

Margaret Thatcher acted as a consultant for tobacco firm Philip Morris, however, while Sir John Major became a director of Carlyle, the private equity group.

The Cabinet Office said Mr Blair cleared his new appointment with the independent advisory committee on business appointments, as he is required to do even having left office.

It told him he cannot be "personally involved" in lobbying for a year.