Aside from the small inconvenience of the Iraq Inquiry coming up, the TB cash machine looks set to continue spewing money.

Tony Blair has snagged a lucrative deal speaking for the hedge fund Landsdowne Partners. The former prime minister will be paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by Lansdowne which is one of London’s biggest and most secretive funds.

Whilst every Brit knows that the former PM and his wife are the most avaricious couple ever to have inhabited No 10, the deal sets a new standard in chutzpah for TB.

According to the Mail, the Mayfair-based company reputedly made £100million betting on the demise of Northern Rock and £12million in a matter of days exploiting a dramatic fall in Barclays shares.

So it’s not just any fund he’s promoting. It’s a company that quietly made a killing betting on the collapse of U.K. banks.

Love him or hate him you have to admire the size of his brass pair.

Unless of course you are a former colleague with a proper Labour background:

Peter Kilfoyle, who was a defence minister under him, said: ‘I never cease to be amazed by Mr Blair’s money-making activities.

‘It goes to show that as far as Mr Blair is concerned, his political and public life is behind him and he appears to have no sense of responsibility to those who have been left behind.

‘His entire lifestyle is an ongoing source of embarrassment to everyone in the Labour Party.’

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Given Tony’s political credentials, probably a large section of the country too.