Still the most accomplished thespian of his generation

TONY BLAIR, making his second appearance before the Chilcot Iraq Inquiry, arrived yesterday looking tense, drawn and even worried, as he nervously fingered an impressive-looking red dossier on the table in front of him.

Some four-and-a-half hours later, after prolonged and intricate questioning, often in great detail, relieved only by two 10-minute breaks, the former prime minister showed no signs of fatigue or irritation.

Indeed, he gave every impression that he could cheerfully have continued for another four-and-a-half hours without undue trouble.

Not once did he falter during this interrogation which was designed to clear up alleged gaps and discrepancies in his earlier appearance.

Blair may have been absent from the public debating arena for three years, but he showed yesterday he had lost none of the showmanship and panache that made him such a formidable figure in the House of Commons.

Nothing fazed him, not even those questions — and there were quite a few of them — which were of inordinate length and occasionally of almost impenetrable complexity. Any hints of criticism, he swatted away with ease, and replied with his own mild brand of criticism of his interrogators, but it was all done with such good nature it was barely recognisable as a rebuke at all.

Members of the inquiry, notably the droning Roderic Lyne, repeatedly pointed out that they had little time at their disposal, and then proceeded to embark on questions of the utmost prolixity and complication.

All this was to Blair’s advantage, since short, sharp snappy questions would probably have served his would-be tormentors much better.

And he dealt, too, with his many conversations with President Bush, but not in the detail which his audience had hoped for.

He discounted the allegation that he was at least in part to blame for creating a power vacuum in Iraq which was exploited by al-Qaida, pointing out that terrorists who were prepared to blow themselves up did not require a power vacuum to destabilise countries. But he warned that Iran presented “a looming and coming challenge”.

All in all, he could hardly have made a more convincing case of his line.

Overall, Tony Blair maintained his reputation as Westminster’s most accomplished thespian of his generation.