This is arguably the silliest thing ever said by a British Foreign Secretary (well, except for all the guff they used to spout about Ireland in the old days):

“I think it would be very good for Britain as well as very good for Europe if Tony Blair was a candidate and was chosen.”

He added: “It’s about whether or not Europe wants a strong leader in that position. I think that hasn’t yet been resolved in the minds of a number of Europe’s leaders.

“My own view is that we need somebody who can do more than simply run through the agenda. We need someone who, when he or she lands in Beijing or Washington or Moscow, the traffic does need to stop and talks do need to begin at a very, very high level. I think Europe has suffered from the lack of that clarity.”

You’d never guess, would you, that young Miliband owes his political career, such as it is, entirely to Blair.