Barrie Hudson on Richard and Judy V Blair

NOT since David Frost grilled a sweating President Nixon on US TV at the height of the Vietnam War have we seen such a merciless and incisive interview as the one between Richard and Judy and Tony Blair, yesterday afternoon.

Such is the skill of Richard and Judy that they wisely avoided the clichd technique of asking the Prime Minister hard questions.

Instead, and no doubt with the intention of lulling Mr Blair into a false sense of security, they adopted the far more cunning strategy of simpering at him, laughing at all his jokes and failing to challenge anything he said.

To add to the Prime Minister's discomfort, Richard sympathised with him about how much of an ordeal it must be when the naughty Press says nasty things about his wife. The result of this stunning move by Richard and Judy was that the Prime Minister had no option but to respond with the absolute honesty and sincerity for which he has long been famous.

The revelations which emerged from the Prime Ministerial lips will surely send aftershocks of controversy echoing along the corridors of power for years to come. The bombshells included:

l Cherie is a really nice person

l He had been aware of the Prince of Wales's wedding plans for some time before the official announcement

l He still hasn't bought any flowers for Cherie

l He would still have sent British forces into Iraq had he known no weapons of mass destruction would be found, because Saddam Hussein is really nasty and would have built some more

l Superimposing the heads of two Jewish people onto the bodies of pigs does not an anti-Semitic image make

l Neither does making a Jewish person look like Shylock.

Even after the grilling, the Prime Minister's ordeal was not over, as he had to play You Say We Pay.

However, one gets the feeling that the Prime Minister relishes the challenge of meeting shrewd operators like Richard and Judy.

That's presumably why he prefers being interviewed by them to being interviewed by the likes of Paxman.

Dear Cherie

I can't decide whether it was foolishness or desperation that made you call the Richard and Judy show to complain that hubby has never sent you flowers.

But don't expect him to explain why. And don't expect him to change. The only thing Tony seems to be good at when it comes to answering questions is evading them.

He said yesterday that there are other ways of being romantic. He probably doesn't have time to think about what they might be.

Or maybe he thinks that with all the free holidays and expensive clothes you seem to have acquired since becoming Mrs Prime Minister you don't need to feel cherished.

He did say he's proud of you but the praise seemed a bit slow in coming, I thought.

He also said the Blairs are a strong family. And I hope for all your sakes he's right.

However, you won't put things right by flamboyantly clutching his hand, or his arm, or flinging yourself on him when photographers are around. The gesture makes him look so uncomfortable.

So in short, it does look like you're going to have to put up with a continued flowers famine on Valentine's Day.

from Adver agony Jaine Silberberg

Barrie Hudson