Not TB
A couple of people have asked me whether today's Notebook quotation about Josef Goebbels was supposed to be a last-minute dig at Tony Blair on the day he left office. Not at all, although I can understand why it might have been interpreted that way. Unlike a lot of Blair's sour critics, I think he's been undone by a cause that he actually believed in to the bottom of his heart. I actually had myself in mind when I read the Trevor-Roper lines. Honestly. My beliefs have been all over the place lately.
As for Gordon Brown's big day, I don't feel any hand of history on my shoulder right now. I missed just about all the day's news, thanks to my Peugeot breaking down at lunchtime. Despite the best efforts of a tireless AA man, it's taken more than five hours to sort out a replacement car and make my way back home. And I have to go out again soon, so thinking and blogging time have been very short today. For what it's worth, I think Blair would have been wiser to have gone before setting out on the farewell parade. I also think Gordon Brown could well turn out to be a good prime minister. I certainly don't envy David Cameron.
[Photo: The public watches Gordon Brown deliver a speech as new Prime Minister. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images]