Watching Tony Blair as he travelled across the world through Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, two things have been striking about him.

First is the total gulf between the respect in which he is held abroad and the cynicism felt at home. That gulf has always been there but today it is almost absurdly wide. The prime minister has been hounded by the press and a handful of Labour MPs over his future as he has been assailed by one person after another asking: "When are you going to go?"