The shocks of the day

No-surprise No 1.  Tony Blair urged Brown to hold the Iraq inquiry in private.  According to The Observer, we are being told to believe this:

Blair, who resisted pressure for a full public inquiry while he was prime minister, appears to have taken a deliberate decision not to express his view in person to Brown because he feared it might leak out.

Instead, messages on the issue were relayed through others to Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, who conveyed them to the prime minister in the days leading up to the announcement of the inquiry last week.

No-surprise No 2.  It has all been denied by Downing Street

Prepare yourself for further U-turns before the Commons debates the issue on Wednesday.  We wouldn't want our Dear Leader to suffer a further humiliation whilst he seeks our the sympathy vote.