As he approaches the time when he will step down from office, it's surely fitting that Tony Blair is taking time out to reflect on any regrets he might have about his decade as Prime Minister.
Thanks to the BBC, we now know that what keeps Mr Blair awake at night is not the thought of a costly and pointless war waged in Iraq at the behest of his transatlantic puppet master, nor even the countless re-disorganisations of the NHS which he has sponsored.
No - Tony Blair's big regret is (apparently) that he's not done enough to promote the great British cuppa. In fact, he claims that if he was running for office again, he would make the defence of tea a major part of his platform.
I wonder that he hasn't read the warnings about tea that have been posted by the influential Loyola University Health System? I'd certainly think twice about promoting it given the possible health implications outlined there.
His professed love of the brown stuff puts him alongside some strange bedfellows. Tony Benn is one self-professed tea drinker, who once claimed to have drunk enough to float the QE2. And George Orwell also had a thing or two to say on the subject.
Anyway, by way of tribute to our 'great' leader as he prepares to depart from office, here are the lyrics to what might have been his campaign anthem, were he standing for another term:
I like a nice cup of tea in the morning
For to start the day you see
And at half-past eleven
Well my idea of Heaven
is a nice cup of tea
I like a nice cup of tea with my dinner
And a nice cup of tea with my tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said
For a nice cup of tea.
Personally, I'm off to get myself a coffee.
