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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Jon Sharman

Tony Blair 'warned Donald Trump the UK may have spied on him'

Tony Blair has denied he warned Donald Trump‘s aides that British spies may have had them under surveillance during the 2016 election.

The former Prime Minister’s team called the claim “a complete fabrication” after it was published in a tell-all book by US author Michael Wolff.

Previous reports suggested Mr Blair had met Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, a number of times.

Now Mr Wolff claims he passed on the “juicy rumour that the British had had the Trump campaign staff under surveillance, monitoring its telephone calls and other communications and possibly even Trump himself”.

The allegation was first reported by The Times.

A Blair spokeswoman told The Independent: “The allegations printed in The Times are categorically absurd. They are a complete fabrication, have no basis in reality and are simply untrue.”

Mr Wolff also claims in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House that Mr Blair tried to land a role as a Middle East adviser to Mr Trump.

The former Labour leader has previously denied similar claims as “an invention”.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asked about other claims in the book, said it was filled with “false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House”.

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