So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu

A brief respite yesterday on his seemingly unending farewell tour as Tony Blair relaxed for one of the last time with his family at Chequers. He had flow in from South Africa overnight, and was recharging his batteries before visiting Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today ahead of this week's G8 summit.

So the photo-ops this week will be rather more mainstream after his five-day jaunt around the (friendlier) parts of Africa. Sandwiched between handshakes with Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Mr Blair flew into Sierra Leone where he was greeted as a hero in the village of Mahera. His decision in 2000, to send British troops to stop rebels in a civil war in which 75,000 people died, saved this community.

This was one of the finer examples of liberal interventionism, and the 6,000-strong village wished to mark the occasion. Beneath the branches of a cotton tree, the nation's 149 permanent chiefs made him an honorary paramount chief and gave him a ceremonial brown, black and white robe - called a ronko - to wear over his suit. At this point, Mr Blair must have been wondering if this particular photo-op was such a good idea.

The Tories like very little of what they regard as a taxpayer- funded vanity trip. Along with Mr Blair travelled a reporter and two photographers from Men's Vogue, and a crew from Sir Bob Geldof 's production company. Since 10 May, when he announced he was going, the Tories suggest Britain has spent [pound]1m on Blair's travels to say goodbye to Chirac, Sarkozy, and George W. After the G8, comes one last hurrah at the EU summit in Brussels. Oh, and there's still a last meeting with the Pope to fit in.

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