The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is plainly "knackered", in need of "rest" and "recuperation", and should take a holiday.
That benign advice was offered yesterday by the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, who suggested that Mr Blair was "just tired out" after a difficult period which has seen the demands of ordinary family life compounded by a series of public relations disasters for him and his government.
A Downing Street spokesman dismissed Mr Kennedy's remarks as "nonsense", adding: "I am not giving a serious response to what I don't consider to be a serious comment."
Speaking on GMTV's The Sunday Programme, Mr Kennedy had urged: "Give the guy a break, give the guy a holiday and let's hope in the autumn we can get the show on the road. He is just tired out. I think a rest and some recuperation would be a good idea. I hope he gets it."
But if Mr Kennedy's comments implied continuing shared interest in Mr Blair's "radical" project for the centre left in British politics, Downing Street was plainly irritated by the renewed suggestion that Mr Blair spreads himself "too thin" and has of late lost his sure touch.
For Mr Kennedy combined his sympathetic comments about the pressures on the prime minister with criticism of his tendency to range wide "and therefore slightly shallow" on a range of important issues.
This was particularly so in the case of the euro, argued Mr Kennedy, who said the prime minister had to "have a fight, pick an argument, lead public opinion, cajole people". He added: "That is very true of the euro and reforming the voting system. The difficulty is that he inevitably has felt the need to range wide, and therefore slightly shallow, on an awful lot of issues."
Mr Kennedy said Mr Blair should instead focus on "the big issues that count, the things that will make his place in history and change the nature of politics in this country".
Asked if "history may have its doubts" about the prime minister's performance, Mr Kennedy suggested the "jury was out" and criticised the government for being "so unambitious". He said: "This has to be the most benign economic scenario that a post-war chancellor has ever enjoyed. When he comes to write his memoirs, Tony Blair does not want to say, `I was the person presiding upon a rock-solid parliamentary majority, a pretty good economic situation, and I failed to score a goal'. He is in danger of that."
Labour's internal tensions over the euro, meanwhile, resurfaced yesterday when a former minister, Mr Frank Field, said the promised referendum on the issue should be held as soon as possible.
"We should be able to vote on this as soon as the ballot papers can be printed," Mr Field told the Sunday People.
"The longer we leave the referendum the more the euro-enthusiasts will talk our proud nation down to get their own way and bounce us into the single currency."
