Tony Blair rejects claim he warned Donald Trump the UK might have spied on him
2 min read
Tony Blair has rubbished a claim he warned Donald Trump UK intelligence may have spied on him.
A spokeswoman for the former prime minister said the assertion - in a new book which attempts to detail the inside track on the US president and his team as he took office - was “categorically absurd”.
'Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House' by journalist Michael Wolff says Mr Blair shared the “juicy rumour” with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and another aide.
He said campaign staff and “possibly even Trump himself” had been watched by spooks, according to extracts of the book published in the Times.
During the meeting in February 2017 he reportedly suggested Barack Obama had hinted to the UK that surveillance would be a good idea.
And the book claims Mr Blair was “angling” for a job as advisor on the Middle East after the presidential election.
But the spokeswoman told the Times last night: “It is all a complete and total fabrication.”
They added to the BBC that the claims were “categorically absurd” and "have no basis in reality and are simply untrue".
In March last year US network Fox News claimed UK intelligence may have spied on Mr Trump - an allegation which was later repeated by then-White House press boss Sean Spicer.
At the time GCHQ made a rare public statement to say the claims were “nonsense” and “should be ignored”.
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