It was that voice again: the one with the contrived hesitations and the catch in the throat. Yes, Tony Blair had decided to broadcast his statement on his future as Prime Minister in the same key as his televised remarks about the death of the Princess of Wales nine years ago. That performance marked the high point of Blair's popularity. While senior Labour party politicians found his quavering tone emetic, the British public fell for it.
Unfortunately for the Prime Minister, the British public will not empathise so tearfully with him at the prospect of his own political death. Coincidentally, it was also announced yesterday that the official inquest into the death of …