Blair is a consummate wordsmith. He is a trained lawyer, his wife is a barrister. They can talk and think themselves out of a situation. And they can easily convince themselves that they are right, even when they are clearly quite wrong. Blair told us that he felt that the war in Iraq was right and just. I believe that he fully believes that.

I am very, very wary of politicians - they are guarded with their comments, and will answer ambiguously in order that they can appear to say the right thing later on. An apology or words of sympathy to the gentleman in question could be seen as an admission of guilt, and would be picked apart by the media.

Isn't it all bollocks though, Paul? What about one man to another. Old school. I'm sorry for your loss innit?! All this media crap is tiresome and counter-productive.