Blair Does the Bartman

So...President Blair would like to distance himself from the stewards at his own party conference who threw out an 82 year-old party member for shouting the word 'nonsense' during Jack Straw's speech (Mr Straw had just said there was no link between the July 7 attacks and the Iraq War)?

Spare me, please. "I wasn't even in the room at the time" reminds me too much of Bart Simpson saying "I didn't do it, I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything". Mr Blair may be the first politician in the world to advertise self-applying Teflon when he retires from office, desperately hoping that buck will fail to gain purchase on his non-stick surface.

These voluntary stewards don't just make it up as they go along. Do you think they don't get training and instruction from party members and aren't thoroughly vetted beforehand? Of course they do and are. And do you think these guidelines aren't passed down from on high? Of course they are. Considering the current climate after the Tube attacks, there will have been very few people stood in the hall who hadn't been particularly well vetted.

Of course, the irony is that it's difficult for Blair to say 'this is nothing to do with me', even though it may not be. He's created this controlling persona, this all-seeing, all-knowing and all-controlling image that has been presented to the world's media and now it's coming back to haunt him. A semi-apology, delivered with a smile on his face and absolving himself of responsibility, doesn't really convince me at all.

Amazing, really, how this conference has desperately tried to pretend anyone or anything connected to areas of party disagreement and contention doesn't exist. Tony Blair refuses to make any mention of Robin Cook in his opening speech (while happy to mention Mo Mowlam), again increasing a snub already felt by many people here, regarding a minister whose stand during the debate om the Iraq War epitomised everything you could wish for in an MP (regardless of whether you agreed with him or not). The collapse of Tony Benn at conference also seems an area they're loathe to mention (and surely Tony Benn is a figure who stands for the kind of free-speaking debate and policies that Blair would fervently wish remained silent at the moment). And now this.

Article Author: Matt Drew

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