Blair should have said this to Chilcot

The former Prime Minister does know how to handle himself.  Asked why there had been four "relentless" inquiries into the Iraq war, Blair had this to say:

I think it's partly because we have this curious habit – I don't think it's confined to Britain actually – where people find it hard to come to the point where they say: 'We disagree – you're a reasonable person, I'm a reasonable person – but we disagree.' There's always got to be a scandal as to why you hold your view. There's got to be some conspiracy behind it – some great deceit that's gone on, and people just find it hard to understand that it's possible for people to have different points of view and hold them reasonably for genuine reasons. So I think there's continual desire to sort of uncover some great conspiracy when actually there's a decision at the heart of it – but there it is.

He should have added that he had to ‘make a judgement without the benefit of hindsight’, but no matter.

Whatever your views on Iraq, it’s worth contrasting Blair’s response to the self-centred indulgence that Alastair Campbell displayed on Sunday.

Brown and Campbell may want Blair back for the campaign; however, the three-times-election-winner can manage very well on his own.