Blair's Blears Blares

As ConfLab 2006 ratchets up the noise, Hazel Blears has emanated, no doubt spontaneously, a valedictory tribute to her Beloved Leader. Blears also found time to criticise the Beloved Leader's number one fan, observing that "slick isn't enough, Mr Cameron. We know it's all PR, all brand repositioning", apparently with a straight face. But, as befits the party which has had "a lesson in unity and purpose and a lesson none of us should forget", adulation and self-congratulation were the major themes. "Tony Blair has led us to three election victories. He has been a Labour Prime Minister for longer than any other," she said. Irrespective of policy or the public interest, longevity is a wonderful thing. His reverence "has been a great leader for our country and an inspiration to our party", and the last decade has been "a fantastic time to be a member of the Labour Party", which doubtless explains the vertiginous drop in membership. The future of the party, Blears explained for those who did not know it, "lies in our ability to live together and collaborate" on whatever the Beloved Leader tells us to do. The "achievements of three successive electoral victories", namely the Iraq catastrophe, the Afghan quagmire, the Prevention of Terrorism excuse, the identity-card lunacy, the PFI swindle, the NHS privatisation, and the use of British troops in the service of the Bush administration, must never be "written off". If there were an international criminal court worthy of the name, I don't suppose they would be.