Blair is everywhere, but where are the Tories?

On Tuesday afternoon at the end of his tour of Israel, the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, visited a school in Tel Aviv and wrote in…

On Tuesday afternoon at the end of his tour of Israel, the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, visited a school in Tel Aviv and wrote in Hebrew in the visitors' book: Ohev shalom, verodev shalom ("Man of peace, in pursuit of peace"). Just as Mr Blair was praised for his marathon diplomacy at Stormont, he is now being described as a peacemaker in the Middle East, and all within a year of taking up residence at No. 10.

Mr Blair's reception in Israel will have cheered his advisers. News footage of him talking to a group of schoolgirls in Tel Aviv captured a moment of pure delight, or pure embarrassment, when one girl stepped forward to tell the Prime Minister: "I love you". A more considered reflection on Mr Blair's visit by an Israeli official was nonetheless powerful: "Blair had to crank up Netanyahu. We also need someone like Blair to hold our hands and the Palestinians' hands."

Such is the level of praise for Mr Blair that the fact that the London conference on May 4th (when the Israelis and Palestinians will be asked to sit peacefully around a table) was originally President Clinton's idea seems to have been lost, as the olive branches were passed round.

But that is not to take away from the fact that Mr Blair's intervention in the Middle East, and the suspicion in some circles that the White House was ready to throw in the towel, have raised his political standing on the international stage.

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All this goodwill, however, has left the opinion writers twitchy. This week, the Daily Telegraph described him as "Supertone! The Prime Minister flies to some trouble spot. He meets both sides. His voice quivers with emotion as he feels the hand of history, and hey presto: historic breakthrough!" It urged his team of miracle workers not to claim too soon that their master "walks on water."

Mr Blair's task has been aided somewhat by the "invisible men" and women of the Tory Party. It began quietly at first - spoken in hushed tones around Westminster - but since the Northern Ireland Agreement was signed on Good Friday more and more people have been asking: Where are the Tories?

When that "historic" deal was signed at Stormont, the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, was nowhere to be seen. The party leader, Mr Hague, popped up on the BBC within minutes of the announcement and his predecessor, Mr Major, was also there. But Mr Mackay, with the permission of his leader it was later pointed out, was on safari in Africa.

The disappearance of Mr Mackay and his sun-tanned performance this week had the sketch writers in a spin. In a Commons debate on the agreement on Monday after MPs returned from their Easter break, one writer quipped: "His suntan almost hummed and the balding crown of his head had taken such a grilling that it had turned orange." In the absence of any political sniping, a "satirical swipe at his Ambre Solaire looks" was as much sharpness as he could muster.

But the problem with the Tories goes far beyond the absence of Mr Mackay or even the wipe-out in the election last year. It even goes beyond the fact that they don't have one iota of the political skill of the Labour spin-doctors. Since last May they have simply withered on the vine and seem to have lost the stomach for a fight. One commentator said this week that the present front bench team has "no principles" and is simply "killing time until an election they are bound to lose". Even Mr Hague's gritty performances at the dispatch box have been thin on the ground lately.

Apparently some members of the Tory old guard - the ones who were fortunate enough to hold on to their seats - are so disillusioned with the party that they are desperate to leave. And even the fact that the SNP has moved ahead of Labour in the opinion polls in Scotland seems to have raised little more than a whimper from the Tories. They might not have any MPs north of Hadrian's Wall, but it would surely serve political debate if there were some level of opposition to speak of.

Mr Blair's spokesman, Mr Alastair Campbell, said in Israel this week "everybody the Prime Minister has met has said it has given them inspiration." It is true. But perhaps some of that inspiration will rub off on the Tories and Mr Hague and his colleagues will emerge from the shadows and take up the mantle of opposition once more.