Res Publica - You might have thought Tony Blair had apologised for Iraq, but he hasn’t. In a typical form of Blair-speak, he denied all responsibility, says SIMON CAR

It would have sounded very like an apology when broadcast, such is the magic of Tony Blair’s manner. It’s very important not to listen to Mr Blair – you can get quite the wrong idea about what he’s saying.

Headlines blazed I’M SORRY! but in the cold light of print, it transpires he didn’t apologise at all.

It was an apotheosis of the political apology, a subset of apologies first observed (by your correspondent, at least) in the early years of New Labour’s new dawn. Stephen Byers had been on television, saying with a frankness he came to regret that he wanted a certain situation resolved by sacking a civil servant. There was an outcry and he apologised in the Commons by saying, ‘If anyone formed the view that I had an opinion on the matter, that is obviously something I regret.’