As well as defending his role in the events surrounding the death of Dr Kelly, Tony Blair will be fighting for his integrity which has become one of the central issues in the whole saga.
His reputation for straight forwardness used to be New Labour's strongest weapon - to be relied upon in any sticky situation.
But has the shine finally worn off Teflon Tony?
Tony Blair has been out and about doing his man of the people routine - press the flesh and flash the smile.
But in the witness box of the Royal Courts of Justice, his very integrity will be questioned. Ironically, it was the defence of his integrity that led to this whole crisis in the first place.
Eleven days before Dr Kelly's death, Mr Blair told a newspaper the BBC accusation was "as serious an attack on my integrity as there could possibly be."
Nick Cohen, author "Pretty Straight Guys":
"You get this picture of the leadership of this country, people in the heart of power, Blair, Campbell, Powell all in Downing Street, all worried intensely and working intensely about the Prime Minister's image. This is the government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They really ought to have better things to do with their time."
From the beginning New Labour's not-so-secret weapon has been Tony Blair and his game-show host smile. Sincerity was almost tattooed on his open boyish face, Tory attempts to cast him as Phoney Tony against Honest John Major were always doomed.
When the first real crisis of his government arose, the row over Formula One and tobacco sponsorship, the Labour leader invited the cameras into his home to play his ace of trumps - the integrity card.
Tony Blair, Prime Minister:
"I'm a pretty straight sort of a guy."
It is a card that has served this pretty straight sort of a guy well. In 1999 when opposition to military action in Kosovo threatened to hit 50 per cent, Blair addressed the nation.
Tony Blair, Prime Minister:
"Barbarity cannot be allowed to defeat justice. This is simply the right thing to do."
He put his personal integrity and judgement on the line and support for the war shot up.
Tony Blair, Prime Minister:
"I know I will be heavily criticised for this decision, but we must do what we think is right."
But when he tried the same trick earlier this year on Iraq, the reaction was very different.
Sincerity is a fragile commodity. Reach for it and you grasp only insincerity. Once lost, its very hard to regain.
Iain Duncan-Smith, Tory Party Leader:
"The truth is that nobody now believes a word that the Prime Minister says."
Daniel Finkelstein, former head of research, Conservative Party:
"Tony Blair believes sincerely in his own sincerity. It's, if you like, his greatest belief and his greatest asset. If he loses those things it undermines not only his appeal but also his own self-belief and that's actually disastrous for a government."
Blair sees himself and his morality as the definition of the New Labour project. He takes personal control during crises. He demands to be personally associated with eye-catching initiatives. His Premiership is about him not the party.
Nick Cohen, author:
"Apart from Tony Blair's image, his sincerity his integrity, there's no ideology behind it, beyond the standard neo-Conservative ideology of the day, and so his integrity is kind of all they've got."
The Hutton inquiry will ask whether Tony Blair's determination to protect his own reputation contributed to a man's death.
|
