TIMES ONLINE: Tony Blair has made a belated effort to revive his attempt to be president of Europe with a flurry of personal telephone calls to continental leaders, The Times has learnt.
The former Prime Minister’s 11th-hour intervention comes after criticism from Left and Right that he has not done enough to earn their support. The flickering flame of Mr Blair’s candidacy could be extinguished tonight when European Union heads of government, including some of his rivals, gather in Germany for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Mr Blair, who has always insisted that he is not campaigning for the post, will be far away in the Middle East, where he is a peace envoy.
Attention has instead focused on an alternative line-up by which David Miliband secures the foreign affairs post of Europe’s High Representative.
Although Mr Miliband has repeatedly stated that he does want not the job, there are fears within the Government that he could be persuaded. Labour figures are said to be beseeching him to stay, with one saying that his departure now would be a “pre-election betrayal of the party”. >>> Tom Baldwin, David Charter and Philip Webster | Monday, November 09, 2009
