For those who wondered why a seemingly intelligent person like Blair was so close to Bush, here it is. The man who helped launch a war that opened up religious strife in one of the most tense areas in the world is back to lecture us on the need for more religion. Great. After the last eight years of religion being shoved down our throats, this is the last thing I want to hear from a Western political leader. The upside is he’s out of power so there’s only so there are limits to how much time he gets in the news. Go pray for someone else and keep me out of it. Keep your damned religion out of my government while you’re at it.

Tony Blair gave an extraordinary speech about the global importance of religion yesterday, telling an audience which included the newly-inaugurated President, Barack Obama, that faith should be restored “to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future.” The former prime minister also said he believed the 21st century would be “poorer in spirit” and “meaner in ambition” if it was not “under the guardianship of faith in God.” He had been invited by President Obama to lead the prestigious US National Prayer Breakfast, a spectacular event in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. Mr Blair also managed to rain on Gordon Brown’s parade, meeting the President before any European leader. He dashed ahead of the Prime Minister and other political heavyweights, including Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Vladimir Putin, to lay on the hands and tell the President: “It is fitting at this extraordinary moment in your country’s history that we hear that call to action; and we pray that in acting we do God’s work and follow God’s will.”