What did we learn from Tony Blair's news conference today? More than you might think.
1. He IS considering standing down as an MP after he stops being PM. "I've taken no decision" on this he said.
2. He is not planning to live in New York after leaving Number 10.
3. The Cabinet have not been consulted about whether Britain should site parts of the US missile defence system.
4. Unlike Alan Johnson he is not ready to attack Tory ideas to support marriage choosing instead to say it's a legitimate debate while insisting it's a distraction from the "real issue" of targeting help on problem families.
5. The government is planning to introduce what he calls a "something for something bargain" in the benefits system and provision of council housing. This begs the question - if you deny problem families benefit or housing, what then happens to them?
6. He warned the Labour Party to be "very careful" about attacking the private equity industry.
What are Charles Clarke and Alan Milburn up to? The two former Cabinet heavyweights (OK - one's slightly less heavyweight than the other) have summoned the media to the launch of a new website which "aims to facilitate debate as to where Labour goes next at a crucial time for the Party". Last night they with this message - "After ten years in office we will need to demonstrate that we have the vision and the policies to successfully meet the future challenges faced by our country and the wider world".
Now, you might think, why don't they simply wait for Gordon Brown to come along with the "vision and policies" he'll be guided by when he's prime minister? The answer comes in the next sentence of the email "Like many members of the PLP we believe that requires an open participatory debate". In other words, waiting for Gordon isn't good enough. Messrs Clarke and Milburn have repeatedly urged the chancellor - both in public and in private - to spell out what he'd do as prime minister and to involve the Labour Party and the country in a debate about the next ten years. Policies handed down from the top will not, they believe, do. In recent months they have produced some of the most original and thought-provoking speeches and ideas in a period when most politicians appear to be treading water waiting for Tony Blair to go.
They had the opportunity to say all this to Gordon's face when they met the Chancellor yesterday to brief him about their plans. Brown's aides say this was a friendly discussion and an initiative he was happy to support.
If Alan Milburn and Charles Clarke want to start a debate on the future of the Labour Party why, you'd be forgiven for asking, doesn't one of them run against Brown for the leadership? It was a question that went unasked yesterday and remains unanswered. Until it is, Clarke and Milburn are set on the extraordinarily difficult task of stimulating a debate which their current leader isn't leading and their likely next leader isn't prepared to lead. To act, if you'll forgive the unpleasant metaphor, as a laxative to a party that is in danger of being unable to produce the new ideas needed after ten years in office.
