"I'll have the Daimler back in an hour, Tony. Not a scratch "

Just as there exists a strict hierarchy in company car parks across the land, your political status in Whitehall dictates what car you are allocated.

While junior ministers are driven around in Ford Mondeos or Nissan Primeras (they are prohibited from taking their red boxes on the bus), the PM stretches out in a far more luxurious (and armour-plated) Daimler.

For travelling further afield, Mr Blair has opted to use the aircraft of the Royal Flight, more usually seen shuttling The Queen around on her official engagements.

Flight of fancy

The PM flew into a storm when he boarded one of Her Majesty's BAe 146 aircraft for a holiday in Tuscany last year.

The opposition calculated that the jaunt in the aircraft (built to accommodate as many as 112 passengers) cost an "outrageous" �40,000.

"Just off to the shops, Cherie"

Downing Street replied that there was nothing new in a British premier using such an aircraft and that in any case, Mr Blair had paid the commercial equivalent for his family's seats on the flight.

Holidaying at home may solve such wrangles this year and where better to take the family than Chequers?

The PM's official country residence occupies 1,250-acres of prime land in leafy Buckinghamshire.

Court gesture

The 16th-century house, once valued at �8m, boasts an impressive array of facilities. The swimming pool, mothballed by Mrs Thatcher for being too costly to heat, is open for business again.

The tennis courts, whose condition embarrassed Mr Blair when Tim Henman dropped by for a knockabout, have also been revamped - thanks to a donation by the late Sir Emmanuel Kaye.

"Fancy a kickabout at my place, Kev?"

The annual wage bill for staff comes to around �300,000 - but don't think there is any slacking off when the boss is away in town. The Daily Mail has reported that curries from the Chequers kitchens have been specially transported to his Downing Street apartments.

The size of his Whitehall pied � terre has reportedly been of some concern to Mr Blair.

The Blair family have already spread out from the private apartments above the famous black door of Number 10, into the rooms usually intended for their neighbour, the chancellor of the exchequer.

Brought to book

Though all these benefits will disappear when Mr Blair bows out as PM, it seems unlikely he will have to survive on just an MP's pay, or Mrs Blair's �118,000 barrister's salary.

Aside from the lucrative consultancies he's bound to be offered before his bags are even packed and the special �50,000 allowance paid to former PMs, Mr Blair could use his newly-won freetime to write his memoirs.

"That'll be �25 please"

His predecessor at Number 10, John Major, received a �400,000 advance for his autobiography. The woman Mr Major unseated as Tory leader did even better. Baroness Thatcher's The Downing Street Years was snapped up by publishers for more than �2m.

A �50,000 raise? Small beer.