Crowd pleaser ... Members of Congress rise to applaud Tony Blair in July 2003. But these scenes did the PM no favours back home. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
Why is Tony Blair still so reluctant to pick up his Congressional gold medal? As the prime minister heads to Washington DC later today for a bilateral with George Bush - Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan again on the agenda - Downing Street told the BBC that there was "no time" in Mr Blair's schedule to pick up the medal.
According to other reports Downing Street has still not agreed what motto to put on the back of the coin - Mr Blair's face is on the other - even though they've had since July 2003 to think about it.
Mr Blair was awarded the honour - given to such a wide-ranging group of politicians, celebrities and luminous figures as Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Joe Louis, John Wayne, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta (see full list here) - in recognition of the "outstanding and enduring contributions" he made "to maintaining the security of all freedom-loving nations."
It's understandable that Downing Street believed a photo of George Bush pinning the medal onto the grateful and proud chest of our prime minister might not have been such excellent PR before last year's election, but Mr Blair no longer has to face the electorate. Not only that, but he's already taken all the political flak he can for supporting Bush's Iraq policy - and, now that a democratically elected government is in place in Baghdad, what legitimate reason is there for not collecting it?
As William Hague told Guardian Unlimited this morning Mr Blair is in danger of appearing rude to the very people who called him a "hero" for sticking his neck out and supporting Mr Bush's policy of pre-emptive invasion.
The other word, though, might be "weak" .
