'Pay-their-way' Blairs stay at tobacco chief's chateau

Sally Pook and George Jones, Daily Telegraph, 13 August 2002

Tony Blair and his family are spending part of their French holiday at a 15th-century chateau owned by the head of an international luxury goods firm that has links to the tobacco industry.

The Blairs are guests of Alain-Dominique Perrin, who owns the Château Lagrézette in the Lot region of south-west France, where they are staying for five days.

Mr Blair chose the chateau as the location for private talks and lunch yesterday with Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the French prime minister. The men, informally dressed in sweaters and casual trousers, posed for the media with their wives outside the chateau.

It was a further coup for M Perrin, one of France's most successful businessmen as chief executive of Richemont, the world's second largest luxury goods company. Its portfolio of brands include Cartier, Chloé and Dunhill.

The Swiss company owns a 21 per cent stake in British American Tobacco. BAT is the world's number two cigarette company whose brands include Benson & Hedges and Rothmans.

Labour MPs have been highly critical of BAT's role in promoting cigarette sales in developing countries.

The Blairs are said to have stayed a night at the Château Lagrézette during their summer holiday in France last year. It was reported last month that M Perrin had been a guest of Mr Blair at Chequers, although Downing Street refused to confirm or deny the lunch date.

Mr Blair's decision to stay at M Perrin's chateau is likely to raise questions about his closeness to wealthy businessmen and his readiness to accept their hospitality.

After facing considerable criticism over accepting so-called "freebie" holidays, the Blairs this summer decided to rent a villa in the South of France. They flew out on a commercial airline and officials stressed that the Blairs were paying their own way.

However, the villa in Le Vernet, a quiet village near Toulouse, is far less luxurious than the Château Lagrézette, which has its own vineyard in the grounds and produces some of the finest wines in the region.

Le Vernet has a population of 2,000 and only two restaurants. It was not the Blair's first choice of holiday location. M Perrin, 59, who also has a home in Knightsbridge, bought the chateau in Caillac in 1980 and spent many years restoring it with his wife, Marie-Therese.

He began his career at Cartier, the French jeweller, and was appointed group chairman by the age of 39.

A self-confessed workaholic, he is credited with transforming Cartier into a huge international brand with more than 10,000 outlets worldwide. He has also built up one of the largest personal collections of modern art in France.

The Blairs, with their three youngest children, Nicky, 16, Kathryn, 14, and two-year-old Leo, arrived at M Perrin's home on Saturday but are expected to return to Le Vernet tomorrow for the rest of their holiday.

Downing Street refused to comment yesterday on Mr Blair's holiday arrangements. But his decision to stay at M Perrin's chateau is likely to anger Labour Left-wingers who have been demanding tougher action against the tobacco companies.

Labour pledged in its 1997 election manifesto to ban all advertising and promotion of tobacco.

But the party was embroiled in controversy soon after coming to power when it announced plans to exempt Formula One from a tobacco sponsorship ban after Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss, gave £1 million to the party.

Mr Blair apologised on television for the Government's handling of the issue and the party returned Mr Ecclestone's cheque.

The Government revived its attempts to ban tobacco advertising in April this year.

Kenneth Clarke, the former Tory chancellor, faced criticism last year over his links with BAT, which was alleged to be at the centre of a global smuggling effort to sell untaxed cigarettes to developing countries. BAT denied the allegations.

Mr Clarke took on a £100,000-a-year post as deputy chairman of BAT in 1998.