Our once and future King (in his dreams)

Such a pleasure to see the Great Dissimulator, Tony Blair, back on our TV screens yesterday.  Phoney Tony magnanimously took time out from his multitude of day jobs (among them, bringing peace to the Middle East and advising the senior management of JPMorgan;  anyone have any  updates on how those are going?) to appear before the long-running Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking.  A bit greyer,  and sporting a tasteful tan that he probably didn't lay down in Bognor Regis,  he seemed otherwise to be little changed:  still managing to appear self-assured and slightly unhinged at the same time.

There's a fascinating summary of the media coverage of Blair's testimony (and even more about his appearance and his mien) here, but it's worth taking a more detailed look at some of the things he actually said. Here's his explanation for why he decided to try to "manage" the relationship with the media (i.e. the Murdoch empire):

“The truth is that I felt that if I had taken on this issue, I would have been engaged in a titanic battle with immensely powerful media interests who would not have hesitated to go after me and my Government with everything at their disposal. It would have, to a large degree, dominated the agenda of the Government.” 

That's pretty much a textbook definition of leadership, isn't it?  Getting your capitulation in first.   But at least he was doing it in the best interests of the country:

“Our priority had to be around the economy, schools, health, crime, security and foreign policy.” 

Too bad, then, that those aren't the things the Blair years are likely to be remembered for, at least not in a good way.  But never fear, it all turned out well in the end:

“I know Rupert Murdoch and his family far better today than I did when I was Prime Minister. I would never have become godfather to their child on the basis of my relationship in Government.”  

Or, in the words of an old Irish ditty, "your reward you've won/for a job well done".  

In recent weeks Blair has let it be known that he's interested in making a return to the UK political scene.  Surely the only job he thinks suited to his exalted profile -- the one where you get to live in the big white palace at the end of The Mall -- is already spoken for, far into the future?  But who knows?  This being Blair, he may have put together some sort of deal with Prince William to squeeze the heir-apparent to one side.  Which, come to think of it, might go down quite well with the voters.