Worms' Meat

Most of us have to wait until we die before the worms get us but for Tony Blair the nibbling will commence the moment he leaves No10, and his political decomposition will most likely be complete long before his physical passing. Hence his reluctance to name the date for the feast, and the willingness of certain Labour MPs to put the interests of their party aside in order to ensure that it kicks off sooner rather than later.

There was never any doubt about what sort of man George W. Bush was, but the young Blair must have aspired to setting his reputation as one of history's good guys. Instead he will surely be remembered as the man that might have restrained the bully, but didn't. The rest will have been chewed away, and already he must know it.

Listening to Bush's desperate bombast last night it was clear to me that it is longer possible to shore up the Neo-Conservative fiasco with rhetoric.