Skipper

I couldn't believe it when I first read it. Ten years as prime minister during which he transcended anything ever achieved by Labour before and then proceeded to plumb depths they had never before plumbed. One version is that he thinks enough time has elapsed since Iraq for him to re-enter the fray. Anyone watching him at Leveson would agree that 'ol blue eyes' is still a wonderful communicator. I also note that while he rates below Tony Benn in Yougov's 'Britain's favourite Britons, he's level pegging with Cameron and in the top 15

However, my words of caution to him would make the following points:

1. The gentleman who gatecrashed your Leveson appearance is not the only person for whom Iraq still occupies a prominent role in their pantheon's of shame with you right alongside it.

2. Ed Miliband has just began to achieve credibility- indeed you can chart the Coalition's decline from the time, last July, when Ed had the courage to cast the first stone at Murdoch. He is not going to want any old ghosts of New Labour Past, floating around.

3. Since leaving office Blair has done nothing to reassure those of us who doubt his sincerity and suitability as a Labour politician by chasing as much money as he, and I suspect, Cherie, can get their hands on, all wrapped up in a complex company structure designed to obscure tax liability. Polly Toynbee regrets this fall from grace.

4. 3 above is bad enough but Blair's recent pursuit of lucre from Kazakstan's rulers, people who do not come far behind Saddam Hussein and Bashar al Assad in terms of human rights violations.

My advice to Tony is: 'try to find a worthwhile charitable cause to champion for a few years and abandon your attempts to join the mega rich whom you've always seemed to admire so much'. Then you might just have a chance of making it as a 'born again' representative of the people. But if you want to keep earning megabucks and helping to sanitize the images of dictators, forget it.