"Tony Blair is my Friend"

Not my friend, obviously. I wouldn't piss on the fucker if he was on fire. But apparently Blair has a true friend in the form of the eternally grim faced Gordon Brown. See here for the full, sickeningly sycophantic, article on Sky News.

Like the rest of the world I know that Brown hates Blair with a deep and bitter passion. He probably has done since circa 2001, when it became clear that Blair was going to hang around for longer than he had first indicated to Brown. And I am sure that the hatred is mutual. The truth is clear for everyone to see.

So why is Brown lying to the public and pretending that Blair is his friend? The single best thing for Brown to do would be to turn round right now and say that he does not get on with Blair. The majority of the country does not like Blair, so it is completely pointless for the Macbeth of Number 11 Downing Street to ally himself with Blair at this time. You want to be popular with the voters, Gordo? Use one word to describe Blair.

Just one word.

"Wanker."

But he would rather lie and call him "friend".

This is typical of what is happening in the race to replace Blair. Brown is stumbling badly. He should be heading towards a coronation, but instead the best he can currently hope for is being elected as Labour leader after a long, difficult struggle with a Blairite. The stage is set for a charismatic, electable compromise candidate.

Alan Johnson must be looking very appealing to the Labour party right about now.