Is it real? Blair’s alleged plan for a smooth handover of power to Brown could be a ruse (on Brown, all of us, Cherie, who knows – this is Blair after all), but it seems real. Even John Reid seems to believe it, see the tortured language he used in this FT interview – Reid is clearly in some pain:

“If you ask me: ‘Who is the leading candidate [for the leadership]?’ I would be stupid not to say: ‘The leading candidate is Gordon.’ But while you have a leader you don’t sponsor others.

“However, that is not to say that I object to the leading candidate. I believe that all of us are committed to the same ideals and that, after Tony goes, that united leadership will be able to assure the country that we are just as committed as we always have been to the principles of reform and renewal.”