Thinking is just not Blair’s forte

Tony Blair's decision to convert to Roman Catholicism has not delighted everyone. Take Rocco Forte, the multi-millionaire hotelier and director of the Catholic Herald. "I don't think Blair is a particularly deep thinker," he told the Observer. "I don't find him a deep man. He was always voting against Catholic principles; for example, he voted for abortion. He constantly voted against the ideas of Catholicism."

Even Tone might be surprised by this broadside. After all it was Forte who stumped up the money for the launch of his Faith Foundation at Westminster Cathedral 10 days ago, a grandiose event at which Blair announced that he was "promoting the idea of faith itself, as something dynamic, modern…" etc, etc.

However, it transpires that Forte never had any intention of lending Blair a hand with his Foundation. When he agreed to finance the lecture, which was one of a number arranged by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, he didn't know TB was going to be participating. No doubt peeved by this, when the big day came Forte found he had a more pressing engagement.