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To: maceng2 who wrote (684)	12/26/2004 2:23:46 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

Blair faces tobacco link probe ananova.com Tony Blair is facing questions from the parliamentary "sleaze" watchdog over his failure to declare a holiday with a leading figure in the tobacco industry, it was disclosed. Downing Street confirmed that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Philip Mawer, had written to the Prime Minister about his stay two years ago at the French chateau of Alain Dominique Perrin. It followed reports in the Sunday Telegraph and the News of the World that Tory MP Chris Grayling had complained to Sir Philip that Mr Blair had not declared the hospitality he received in the Register of Members Interests. Mr Blair, his wife Cherie and their three younger children were reported to have spent five days at Mr Perrin's 15th century chateau in the Lot region south-west France for five days in August 2002. At the time, Mr Perrin was chairman of the luxury goods firm Richemont, which, according to the reports, owns a 21% stake worth around £3 billion in British American Tobacco, the world's second biggest cigarette company". A Downing Street spokeswoman said that Mr Blair had not yet replied to Sir Philip's letter, but would do so in due course. She added: "Anything that needs to be registered will be registered". It was being emphasised tonight that Mr Blair was an old friend of Mr Perrin, and that he had gone to stay with him for a few days during a family holiday in France. It was also pointed out that since then, the Government had published plans for a wide-ranging ban on smoking in public places. Nevertheless, many in Labour are wary of any links with the tobacco industry after Mr Blair had to hand back a £1 million donation to the party from Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone after it emerged that the Government was planning to exempt the sport from a ban on tobacco advertising.