Blair's visit to Parliament today once again managed to set the cat among the pigeons. Conservative MEPs actually asked to have a private meeting with him, while the Lib Dems didn't and organised what appeared to be some sort of demonstration instead. The Tories' meeting left several of them muttering audibly about how none of their leadership contenders could ever match him for ability. Others wondered what the point of their meeting was (as, no doubt, did Blair) and speculated that Tim Kirkhope, their leader in the European Parliament, was after a peerage!

Meanwhile, Blair's speech to Parliament had to be seen to be believed - just like last time, you certainly wouldn't know who to believe in the press! Remarkably, even Eurosceptic newspapers with the same ownership couldn't agree on how to handle it: the Sun said he was “heckled and booed” whereas the Times reported that his speech was “punctuated by frequent applause”. Take your pick...