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Controversies
Within months of her husband taking office, Cherie Blair unintentionally brought herself under media attack, with the disappearance of Humphrey, the Downing Street Cat and "Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office". It was alleged in the media that Mrs Blair had ordered he be 'dispatched to meet his maker', causing a media storm and questions to be raised in the House of Commons as to the then Prime Minister's wife's involvement. The No.10 Press Office hastily scheduled a photo-call at a "secret" location outside London where Humphrey was now residing, having retired with the Conservative government.
In 2002, Blair hit the newspaper headlines in the scandal referred to as "Cheriegate" because of her involvement with Peter Foster, a convicted Australian conman, who assisted her in the purchase of two flats in Bristol. Blair tried to distance herself from Foster and briefed the press office at Number 10 to make a public statement claiming that Foster was not involved with the deal. She was caught out when Foster provided evidence that she had lied. She then made a public apology, tearfully reading a prepared statement blaming her "misfortune" on the pressures of running a family and being a mother. She again tried to distance herself from Foster, but it was later revealed that she and Tony Blair had agreed to be godparents to the yet-to-be born child of Foster and his girlfriend Carole Caplin (Caplin later miscarried).![Devil [6]](/cs/emoticons/emotion-14.gif)
Her relationship with Peter Foster's then-girlfriend, the so-called lifestyle guru and former model Carole Caplin, has given rise to headlines in some newspapers. Caplin is credited with introducing Blair to various New Age symbols and beliefs, including "magic pendants" known as "BioElectric Shields".[7] Reports of her New Age practices included an account of her holiday in Mexico when she and her husband, wearing only bathing costumes, privately took part in a rebirthing procedure that involved smearing mud and fruit over each others' bodies while sitting in a steam bath.![Music [8]](/cs/emoticons/emotion-29.gif) It is claimed her fourth pregnancy at 45 came after she submitted to New Age sexual techniques.[9]
Later in 2002, she apologised after saying, in reference to the Palestinian suicide bombers, "As long as young people feel they have no hope but to blow themselves up, we're never going to make progress, are we?", within hours of a blast in Jerusalem that killed at least 19 people.[10][11]
In 2003, after being invited to a Melbourne shopping centre and told to take a few items for free, she took 68 items. She subsequently paid £2,000 for the goods.[12]
In 2005, while her husband was visiting President George Bush officially, she gave a private speech in Washington's Kennedy Center where she was paid £30,000 for her appearance. She was criticised for using government resources, Britain's ambassador and her husband's transport as a means to run private business.[13]
Also in 2005, during a charity speaking tour of Australia, she was paid a £102,000 fee for after-dinner speaking, although the £82-a-head dinner raised £81,270, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV). £6,690, or 8%, of the total funds raised went towards cancer research.[14]
Blair acted in the case of Shabina Begum, a student at the mainly-Muslim Denbigh High School in Luton, who was refused permission to wear full head-to-toe jilbāb, when the school uniform code only permitted students to wear the salwar kameez. For her client, Blair claimed that it was about prejudice; however, she was criticised for her involvement in the case when Begum was being supported by the controversial Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, of which the girl's brother Shuweb Rahman was a member.[15] This criticism ignores the cab rank rule under which any English barrister is in general required to act for any client, if asked to do so.
Again in 2005, Blair agreed to act for a UK couple, the Orams, who had been accused of illegally building a villa in the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The original owner of the house was forced to flee when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974.[16] President Tassos Papadopoulos of Cyprus referred to Blair's decision to represent the Orams as "a provocative action".[17]
In 2006, the Labour Party paid a £7,700 bill for her personal hair stylist, Andre Suard, during the 2005 General Election campaign, a sum of £275 per day for the month leading up to the election. This angered some in the party, including former minister Peter Kilfoyle, who claimed the bill was twice what he had spent on his election campaign in the Liverpool Walton seat.[18]
Also in 2006, Blair was granted an audience with the Pope; she wore white, instead of the traditional black.[19]
In May 2006, Cherie Blair signed a copy of the Hutton Report which was later auctioned to raise funds for the Labour Party. The Hutton Report was a controversial report by Lord Hutton into the death of Dr David Kelly, and whether the government had lied over the claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. [20]
In September 2006, it was reported that Blair had been investigated by the police over an incident at the UK School Games where she, it was claimed, slapped a 17 year old boy, Miles Gandolfi of Chelsfield, Kent, who had asked to have his picture taken with her and then gestured "bunny ears" behind her back. On police investigation it was determined that she did not hit the boy and it was quickly announced that no further police action was planned.[21]
On 21 January 2007, another controversy arose, when it was alleged that she used her position to acquire thousands of pounds' worth of cut-price designer clothes.[22]
As Tony Blair left Downing Street for the last time as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 Cherie told the gathered media present "I don't think we'll miss you". Days later she was the subject of a one-hour-long ITV special on her life, filmed with her co-operation.[23]
She has consented to be the President of the Loomba Trust, a UK-based charity, set up by Lord Raj Loomba, business man of Indian origin. On 11 and 12 January 2008 she was in Punjab to give away Rs 50 million from this charity for a school in the native village of Raj Loomba, namely Dhilwan, Kapurthala. The Punjab government contributed a similar amount.
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