EVEN though it is eight months since he left Downing Street, Tony Blair has once again laid himself open to an unfortunate combination of the words “cash” and “honours”.

A Texas university with close links to President George W Bush will this week pay Blair thousands of pounds and hand him an honour usually reserved for Republican grandees and American war heroes.

Blair has turned down an honorarium that goes with the Medal of Freedom but has asked for a cash fee to speak to students and children from deprived backgrounds after the award ceremony.

He will become the sixth recipient of the medal awarded by the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas since it was inaugurated in 1997 in honour of a Republican senator and foreign affairs adviser to Bush’s father.

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Presented every two years to an individual said to have “furthered the cause of freedom throughout the world”, the award places Blair in a select group including President George Bush Sr and Senator John McCain, the man widely expected to become the Republicans’ presidential candidate.

Retired Generals Colin Powell and Tommy Franks were awarded the honour, and in 1999 Baroness Thatcher became the first nonAmerican to receive the medal.

Blair’s citation for the award speaks of his “value-based, activist” foreign policy and his record in “transforming” Britain’s public services. “He received widespread recognition for his support for America after the tragedy of 9/11,” it reads. “Tony Blair transformed Britain’s public services through a program of investment and reform in schools and hospitals, resulting in more children achieving better school results and more people receiving faster access to healthcare, with improved survival rates for cancer and coronary disease.”

Blair, who was accused by left-wing opponents of being “Bush’s poodle” during his term of office, will be presented with the bronze medal at a dinner on Wednesday night. Afterwards, he will give an acceptance speech to 2,500 people, who have paid up to $60 (£31) for a ticket. According to Brad Cheves, vice-president for development and external affairs at SMU, Blair has waived the fee for his speech and has asked not to receive the honorarium usually bestowed on recipients.

But he said Blair ? who is to be paid about £5m for his memoirs and has a lucrative sideline as a public speaker ? asked for a fee to host a series of question and answer sessions with students and schoolchildren from deprived backgrounds. According to Cheves, Blair has also asked to have his expenses reimbursed. “Mr Blair has shown a very fine focus on giving opportunity and freedom around the world and can reach out beyond partisan lines and bring communities together. He is a person of great strength and dignity,” Cheves said.

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