Tony Blair

But actually, it was often the pauses or the facial expressions that gave kind of the truth to what he was really thinking.

And he believes this stuff passionately.

You know, Blair originally was cast as this sort of, you know, would say anything, do anything to win an election.

And actually, as time has gone on, he's become more and more of a commitment politician.

And I think that commitment was on show in this interview.

And though people might not like some of what he says, he passionately believes that Britain is not so much on the wrong path

as on no path, listlessly standing around, waiting for something to happen, waiting to be blown in this direction or that direction by whatever prevailing political wind is blowing at any given moment.

And he says, you've got to do something about this.

You've got to start thinking seriously about policy.

And I think it was kind of what you're used to when you get an intervention,

from a former prime minister or a party grandee is, at a time of a leadership crisis, them deciding, I'm going to put my hand on the shoulder of Starmer or West Streeting or Andy Burnham or Angela Rayner.

No.

He wasn't putting his hand on anyone's shoulder.

He was saying, you're all bloody nuts if you think that changing the leader now is the answer to your problems when you haven't sorted out what the priorities are.

There is, of course, the possibility that Labour has worked out what its priorities are, and they're just not the ones that Tony Blair believes are the right ones.

And that also is a source of frustration to him.

We'll be back tomorrow.

Bye-bye.

You will agree they are darlings, won't you?

Every one of them, and each with a dream to become the most exquisite dancer in the world.