Tony, it must be said, handled himself well during the testimony he gave yesterday at the Hutton Inquiry. Not to be unexpected, considering the man is a barrister, and had already been offered a clear field by the sacrificial blocks offered by Geoff Hoon, and Alastair Campbell.
But those who watched the Prime Minister as he spoke, made mental note of the occasional pause, the fleeting looks to above, when certain issues were raised, the likes of his involvement with the release of Dr.Kelly's name to the media, and his assessment of the '45 minute attack' capability intelligence suggested Saddam posessed..
The media here agrees Tony's staked his political carreer on the outcome of this Inquiry..The Telegraph' noted that Tony 'took the honourable way' is accepting the buck stopped on his desk when it came to the nameing of David Kelly..
But the Times noted Tony had, at times, a 'cold and unfeeling' attitude, as though this entire scenario, emotions and gestures included, had been practiced..
'It's a matter of trust..' in Tony's words..
What's is perhaps being overlooked in all the high profile testimony and the excitement over this rare glimpse into the grey world of Whitehall, is the fact that what has emerged from this inquiry so far, is a picture of a government where key decisions have been made by groups of friends, without official notes being taken.
A government in which even a Cabinet Minister was cut out of the loop when information of the utmost importance was being 'spun'..
A government of cronies, the antithesis of what 'New Labour' proclaimed itself to be when Tony swept into power..
The star witnesse so far has not been Tony, but Geoff Hoon. His admissions will have reverberations for years. Another was John Scarlett, who's Intel Services will be raked..
Tony's performance was polished, for the most part assured, and entirely contrived.. but then we expect that, even admire a good rendition, from those we choose to govern us..
Ahh.. as a post script. Interesting the Globe and Mail, in it's morning edition, makes the claim that Dr. Kelly was a suicide..
To quote..
"Dr. Kelly, a soft-spoken scientist unaccustomed to the public glare, slit his wrist after he had appeared before two parliamentary inquiries and had been covertly identified by Ministry of Defence press officers as the mole behind the BBC stories..."
A tad presumptuous, that.