Will he – Tony Blair, that is – seek the position of president of the European Council or won’t he? And will they – his former peers in the Council, the 27 EU heads of government that make up this select electorate – want him?

With the all-but-ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, these questions have burst out of the Euro-parlour game into the public square. The answer is not as clear as it might seem at first glance.