This aphorism by the Marquess of Halifax is as true today as when he uttered it

The Evening Standard reported last week that Tony Blair will play ‘a significant role’ in the forthcoming election.
The thing is, you see, that Tony passed his test with flying colours at Chilcot: he lied his head off to the Dead Sheep’s Society, four out of five Brits didn’t believe a word he said, and nobody gave a monkeys. He therefore – along with Lord Fiddlesum – has all the requirements of a New Labour election campaigner.

As for Halifax’s hypocrite/bungler observation above, you couldn’t find a better illustration of it than this:

‘The Prime Minister, who last month paid tribute to “my friend, Tony Blair”, talks regularly to his predecessor and they recently discussed election strategy.’
(Evening Standard)

Ah yes, my friend – the one I intended to bring down with sleaze…and then (when that failed) I blackmailed the crooked sod into scuttling away towards a distant horizon marked ‘Making lots of lovely Boulah’.

There is odd stuff afoot in all this. The Slog’s series on how Brown came to power starts later today….Number Ten, fill your hands and get ready for Rooster Cockburn.