The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and the Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, clashed yesterday in a Commons debate on parliamentary reform which generated more noise than heat, and a trade in insults which left backbenchers on both sides cheering to the rafters.
Opening the "opposition day" debate, Mr Hague claimed the government had done more than any in living memory to accelerate the loss of parliament's power to hold the executive to account, with resulting damage to public confidence in democracy itself.
"The truth is that, like a fish, this government has rotted from its head, and the government's contemptuous treatment of parliament begins with the contemptuous attitude of the Prime Minister to this House," declared Mr Hague.
Turning directly on Mr Blair, the Tory leader continued: "You have created a government of secret briefings and leaks and gimmicks and gossip, in which power rests with unelected advisers, spin doctors and cronies."
In reply, the Prime Minister mocked Mr Hague for his "extraordinary eccentricity" in choosing this as the subject for debate, as opposed to health, education or even crime. "Your real complaint about holding us to account is that you are so useless, weak and feeble that in three years you've not been able to impress yourselves on anybody," declared Mr Blair.
And dismissing Mr Hague's calls for twice-weekly sessions of prime minister's questions, and the removal of the appointment of select committee chairmen from the party whips, the Prime Minister delivered a withering put-down of the Tory leader's speech: "It's said that as a 16-year-old you used to read Hansard under the bedclothes. That was the speech of such a person."
Showing little sign of strain, Mr Blair chose a relaxed and mocking style to counter a typically barnstorming delivery from Mr Hague.
Mr Blair insisted that in comparison he actually spent more time answering Commons questions than his predecessors, rebutted opposition charges that legislation was subject to less scrutiny, and accepted that there were serious issues to be addressed.
But the Tory leader, he charged, had not raised them. The question of 20 rather than 22 ministers, of fine-tuning the ministerial code and the appointment of committee chairmen might be interesting to academics and constitutional experts, said Mr Blair, but, "The real issue, surely, is to bring power closer to the people and holding the actions of government to account."
Scorning Mr Hague for failing to address these issues while a member of the previous government, Mr Blair listed his government's record in devolving power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, and in reforming parliament already by ending the hereditary peerage.
Earlier Mr Blair signalled a major spending boost to tackle "chronic under-investment" in Britain's public services. Unveiling the government's annual report to MPs ahead of next week's comprehensive spending review, he told MPs: "If we want opportunity and security for all in a world of change, we have to invest in our essential infrastructure and in our public services." And he pledged: "The priorities remain education, education, education, and our response will be investment, investment, investment guaranteed."
Meanwhile the governor of the Bank of England, Sir Eddie George, warned against any rush to decide on membership of the euro. In comments certain to be welcomed by the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, he warned against the current push to bring the euro to the front of the political agenda ahead of the general election.