Cherie admits conman link in flats deal

Cherie Blair today admitted that convicted fraudster Peter Foster had helped her buy two flats in Bristol at a discount and said any “misunderstanding” between No 10 and the media on the issue had been entirely her fault.

Until today Downing Street had said when asked about Mr Foster’s possible involvement that any negotiations which had taken place to purchase the properties had been conducted by Mrs Blair and her lawyer.

But this morning the British Prime Minister’s wife said Mr Foster had “for a couple of weeks of the negotiations ... helped me by talking to the property agents, making suggestions to me about the best price to secure and corresponding with me by e-mail”.

Mrs Blair said, however, that it was during initial discussions, before Mr Foster’s direct involvement, that she secured a drop in the purchase price of the flats from £295,000 each to £269,000 each.

The British Prime Minister’s wife insisted that the purchase of the properties had been carried out properly and said “any reasonable person” would accept “I have done nothing improper”.

Her statement today followed the publication of e-mails between her and Mr Foster in today’s Daily Mail.

Mr Foster, sentenced to 33 months in jail in September 2000 for using fraudulent documents to help him obtain credit to launch a slimming pill, today said he had never hidden his past from anyone and that he regarded his involvement with Mrs Blair as confidential.

He became involved in the property transaction in Bristol, where the Blairs’ eldest son Euan is at university, because he is the boyfriend of Mrs Blair’s friend Carole Caplin.

The Prime Minister’s wife said she was unaware of Mr Foster’s background and would have been more ““circumspect” about the couple’s offer of help if she had known of it.

The saga of the purchase of the flats threatened to cast another shadow over No 10’s relations with the media.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman tonight issued a second statement on the affair, stressing that Mrs Blair took the blame for any misunderstanding between Downing Street and reporters.

This morning, Mr Blair’s official spokesman said that when denying aspects of the original story Downing Street had sought to quash specific allegations which were “false”.

These were suggestions that the Blairs had tried to evade or avoid stamp duty, had tried to persuade the sellers of the flats that they could be promoted because of the Blairs’ involvement and that they used their own positions and those of Government officials to help Mr Foster.