Repay costs of designer clothes, Blairs were told

Tony and Cherie Blair were advised by senior officials to pay back thousands of pounds they received in discounts on top designer clothing to avoid public scrutiny while he was prime minister, newly released documents reveal.

- Caroline Davies and Ben Quinn

Just as questions have been raised recently over donations of designer attire to Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, No 10 suffered headaches over the Blairs' wardrobe two decades ago. Officials were concerned about "public perception" if details of the Blairs' discounts-of up to 60% from designers including Nicole Farhi and Paul Smith became known. The deals were arranged by Carole Caplin, the controversial fitness adviser to Blair and style adviser to his wife.

From July 2001 to November 2002, the couple benefited from £46,000 discount on clothing, which would have retailed at £76,000, but for which they paid about £30,000.

Files released at the National Archives today show the No 10 private secretary at the time, Clare Sumner, wrote to Blair in February 2003 stating that Caplin had said most of Cherie's clothes were "bought at wholesale price", which translated into "basically a 60% discount".