Former Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair. Reuters

The BBC has started preparing the obituary of Tony Blair, it has been reported.

According to the Sun, ex-colleagues and friends of the 58-year-old former prime minister have been asked to contribute. The Labour Party has been shocked by the move, the report has added.

"It seems in pretty poor taste that the Beeb is already preparing for Tony's death. He is still a relatively young man who I'm sure has got a lot of years left in him yet," a Labour Party insider told the paper.

Blair was prime minister for a decade. When he assumed office in 1997, he became the youngest British prime minister in nearly 200 years.

Blair's term in office was marked by the controversial decision to go for military action in Iraq following reports that Saddam Hussein's regime had stocked weapons of mass destruction in its arsenals.

Iraq