'Working peer' Lord Levy has made 121 foreign trips - but just one speech in the Lords

Research shows the Prime Minister's controversial fundraiser and Middle East envoy has visited 24 countries promoting British foreign policy.

He has been given the same red carpet treatment as a visiting Foreign Secretary and has shaken the hands of kings, presidents and prime ministers.

Yet despite being made a "working peer" by Mr Blair shortly after Labour came to power, official Hansard records show he has not made a single contribution to the Lords since his maiden speech in December 1997.

Ironically, Lord Levy told fellow peers at the time he was "looking forward to working with you all".

Lord Levy - known as Lord Cashpoint for his ability to raise millions for Labour - was arrested by police investigating the cash-for-peerages scandal last July. He has been spoken to twice by police, but has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing. MPs demanded to know why the unelected and unaccountable peer had failed to speak in debates during nearly ten years on the Labour benches, yet had been allowed to notch up hundreds of thousands of air miles as a Foreign Secretary in all but name.

Research by the Daily Mail shows that since April 1999, Lord Levy has paid 121 foreign visits to 24 states.

Although multi-millionaire Lord Levy pays for his own travel expenses, the cost of accommodation for the majority of the trips was met by the taxpayer, via the local British embassy - which at around £2,000 a time would be nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

His diary shows that the majority have been to Israel, where he has been 38 times, and the Palestinian Authority, 24 times.

Yet Lord Levy has also been to several countries thousands of miles from the Middle East - including most of Latin America and the United States, which he has visited seven times.

But few people will be aware he is also Mr Blair's "special envoy to Kazakhstan". The diary lists him under this title when he paid a visit to the secretive central Asian country to meet Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev in September 2003.

When he tours other countries he is merely the Prime Minister's "special representative".

In many cases, Lord Levy has prepared the ground for visits by Mr Blair weeks later.

He has met 16 presidents, two kings, seven prime ministers, two intelligence chiefs, one UN Secretary General, one US Secretary of State and one governor of the World Bank, as well as countless ambassadors and ministers.

But because he is not a Minister, neither the Foreign Office nor Downing Street have to explain why he was there.

Mr Blair heaped praise on Lord Levy during a press conference in Ramallah last month, when he said the peer had done an "excellent job" and had been "immensely helpful" to helping ease the Arab Israeli conflict.

Yet an internal Foreign Office report for last year shows that Britain's performance on the Middle East peace process has been given the worst rating.

There is also growing discontent in the highest ranks of the Foreign Office that he has little to show for his extensive globetrotting since being appointed Mr Blair's personal envoy in 1999.

Whitehall insiders believe it is extraordinary that, despite opposition to him, Lord Levy has been allowed to shape Mr Blair's Middle East policy.

But Mr Blair had little choice but to keep him on because of the potential damage he could cause over the cash-for-peerages affair, say sources.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker said: "I have nothing against Lord Levy personally, but the idea of an unaccountable individual acting as the Prime Minister's special envoy is deeply worrying.

"He is not subject to the same accountability process as a minister and does not have the same proper Foreign Office briefing. The last thing foreign policy needs is a well-meaning bull in a china shop when precision and diplomacy are required.

"The fact that he spends his time travelling around the world rather than in the Lords where he was appointed to serve shows his priorities are sadly adrift."

A Foreign Office spokesman defended Lord Levy travelling beyond the Middle East, adding: "He is the Prime Minister's representative."