Tony Blair on YouTube: the French version
The delight leading members of the Labour Party took in the victory of right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy over Socialist Ségolène Royal in the recent French presidential elections was surprising only because it was so brazen. On Radio 4's Today programme, David Blunkett paid such fawning tributes to Sarkozy - a man the Telegraph described as "the French Thatcher" - you truly had to pinch yourself. However, it was left to our prime minister, Tony Blair, to go the extra sycophantic mile. Having already congratulated Sarkozy in English, Blair repeated the whole excruciating exercise in French.
I guess there are some who might be impressed by the prime minister's ability with foreign languages, but surely they will be people who speak none themselves. To say that Blair's accent was lousy and laboured would be to severely understate matters. He makes Inspector Clouseau sound as refined and incisive as Jean-Paul Sartre. What did you think?
