Blair's hectic schedule set to go supersonic

A cut-price British Airways Concorde flight has been offered for Tony Blair's first official visit to the United States later this month.

"Plans to use Concorde are being actively investigated," the Prime Minister's office said. BA have offered Concorde for the same price as a normal 767 jet. "There is no extra cost on this," the spokesman added.

Mr Blair and his entourage would take Concorde to Denver, Colorado, for a two-day G7 summit of the world's leading industrial nations, then to New York for a United Nations summit, before coming home. A BA spokesman said: "We would be only too delighted to assist where we possibly can and save the Prime Minister's party travel time by using our supersonic flagship." Scottish nationalists, however, denounced the move as a "massive waste of taxpayers' money". Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, said: "Power seems to have gone to Blair's head."