Thatcher once quipped that her greatest legacy was Tony Blair, and her prodigy did not let her down. It appears he was on first name terms by the end:

“Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast. And some of the changes she made in Britain were, in certain respects at least, retained by the 1997 Labour Government, and came to be implemented by governments around the world. As a person she was kind and generous spirited and was always immensely supportive to me as Prime Minister although we came from opposite sides of politics. Even if you disagreed with her as I did on certain issues and occasionally strongly, you could not disrespect her character or her contribution to Britain’s national life. She will be sadly missed.”

Cameron hit the right notes yesterday and deliberately put down the markers to try and compare what he is doing with the Eighties, but you could argue Tone laid on more charm. Is he the true heir to Thatcher?