Orator Brown to earn big bucks

Though nowhere near the amount commanded by Tony Blair (about £4,00,000 per speech), Brown has been approached to join the US lecture tour circuit to deliver speeches on the world economy to top businessmen and bankers. Even as Brown is regarded as a poor orator, celebrity agent Robert Walker — whose clients include former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and human rights activist Bishop Desmond — insists the defeated Labour leader could earn big sums.

“To be very frank with you, it doesn’t matter to me whether Brown is thought of as a good speaker. I look for clients who have content and I work with them to develop it. They bring the steak to the meal. I throw on the sizzle,” he said.

Walker is understood to have advised Brown that he can earn as much as £70,000 for a single after-dinner homily on bank bailouts. However, Brown, known for his parsimonious lifestyle, has said he does not want to emulate the success enjoyed by Blair. “I don’t want to do business. Sarah and I may go off and do charity work,” he had said as he left 10 Downing.
PTI