ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø

Tony Blair, desperate but brilliant, today delivered a speech that will probably keep him in Number 10 until at least May next year.

There was little I agreed with, particularly his failure to resolve the conflict between liberty and restricting freedoms, however his charm was apparent throughout. Even in the press cauldron afterwards there was applause for the man the media regularly destroys.

A particularly brilliant joke regarded Cherie Blair, with the primeminister remarking that he at least did not have to worry about his wife running off with the man next door. He went onto praise Gordon Brown but the memory will be the cuss.

Whatever people think of the man he will be missed as the one truly charismatic man of his generation.

In his last party conference speech Blair stressed that energy would be at the forefront of his last year of power. He reiterated the desire for a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. It was an old policy but it was good that he reminded delegates of its importance.

They could have made Labour Party Conference a more aggravating experience if they tried – and I mean really, really tried. First of all I was accosted by a policeman who decided that I was a criminal - the evidence being that I’d walked behind him.

On escaping possible police violence I went to the media centre. The Labour Party had forgotten to send my pass out but informed me last week that it would take but 20 minutes to get in. Of course that was not the case: in front of me was a three-hour queue. Fortunately a dozy attendant said I could walk to the front of the queue if I was media, ignoring the fact that the queue was fall of journalists.

The second attendant then pushed me past a Mirror journalist who had been waiting there since 8am in the morning. I was secured a pass in ten minutes - bonzo.

Then attempting to get in the conference centre I was told to go through a separate media entrance, which was another 150m away. It doesn’t sound far but it was extremely annoying.