MORE than two years have elapsed since Tony Blair was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for being a “staunch and steadfast ally” of the United States in the war on terror, but Downing Street yesterday said the Prime Minister still does not know when he will pick it up.

This exceptional 772-day delay is beginning to raise eyebrows in Washington, where suspicions are growing that Mr Blair wishes to avoid being photographed receiving America’s highest civilian honour from President Bush.

Members of the Prime Minister’s inner circle have privately told The Times they think he is unlikely to receive the medal until after he has left office, which could prevent the ceremony taking place until 2008 or even 2009.

There is always a time lag between the decision to award the medal and its presentation, because each must be designed and minted individually. But records stretch back more than 15 years before any recipient can be found who waited longer than Mr Blair. That was in 1989, when a very elderly Aaron Copland finally picked up his award for his contribution to music after 1,142 days.

Since then a total of 26 medals have been handed over in less time than it has taken Mr Blair. A less-than-spry Nelson Mandela got his in 56 days, while Pope John Paul II received his medal in January 2001 after 165 days. The average delay is about 300 days and the presentation ceremonies are almost always conducted by the serving President. It was on July 17, 2003, just before Mr Blair received a huge ovation for his speech to both houses of Congress, when US legislators approved his medal. It was the first such award to a Briton since Sir Winston Churchill was posthumously honoured in 1969 and only the eighteenth given to a foreigner. Within hours Mr Blair’s triumph was tainted by news that David Kelly, the government scientist named as the source for damaging stories on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, had killed himself.

The Prime Minister has since been sensitive to criticism that he is too close to Mr Bush. Although Mr Blair has travelled to the US four times since July 2003, Downing Street asked the President to stay away from Britain during his European trip before this year’s general election.

Congress approved expenditure estimates of about $35,000 (£19,500) for the medal two years ago, but little else appears to have been done, according to Professor Robert Remini of the University of Illinois. He recently resigned from the Citizens Advisory Committee on Coinage which must be consulted on the design of any Congressional Gold Medal.

But Professor Remini told The Times: “This issue never came before us when I was there. I would have remembered because I was present when Blair addressed both houses of Congress and I had been impressed by him.”

Mike White, an official with the US Mint, said yesterday: “We’re still at the design and development stage. We’re continuing to work with 10 Downing Street on the design.” Asked if any progress had been made, Mr White replied: “That’s all I’ve got right now.”

Questioned about the delay last autumn, Mr Blair said he had not got the “faintest idea” when the medal would be presented, adding: “It’s not the biggest thing on my plate at the moment, is it?”

A No 10 spokesman said: “We have nothing to add.”

THE LONG WAIT

Aaron Copland
1,142 days (1989)
Jesse Owens
554 days (1990)
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
518 days (1998)
Gerald and Betty Ford
371 days (1999)
Charles Schulz
352 days (2001)
Harry S Truman
322 days (1985)
Walt Disney
305 days (1969)
John Wayne
285 days (1980)
Sir Winston Churchill
190 days (1969)
Pope John Paul II
165 days (2001)
Simon Wiesenthal
141 days (1980)
Nelson Mandela
56 days (1998)
Frank Sinatra
22 days (1997)

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