Rumours grow ever stronger that Tony Blair might want to run Europe now that the ex-prime minister has stopped running the UK. The British press reports that Blair met former top aides at Davos last month to plot a pitch for the new job as a permanent president of the European Union. Up till now countries have taken turns in the chair but after the Lisbon treaty is ratified there will be one person at the top for a fixed term.

Yet opposition to a man many see as a warmonger and US stooge is already growing. European Tribune, a website run by the liberals behind the Daily Kos in the US, is starting a petition against his yet-to-be declared candidacy.