In the end the message was delivered not by a spin doctor, not in a briefing, a speech or a radio interview, but at the dispatch box in the House of Commons. Backbenchers, constitutionalists and commentators often bemoan the irrelevance these days of parliament, and remark the prime minister's distaste for being there. But when it comes to defining terms precisely, New Labour came home.
Parliaments can last five years, often last four and a bit.
Which he did not. As if the Mail would have allowed it to reside anywhere else. Two days later, the day before Blair's intervention, Byers said the benefits of British membership of the single currency were obvious. The prime minister was saying no more than that the five economic tests would be assessed within two years, but it was immediately pointed out that the decision to join the euro required more than passing the economic tests. Monetary policy lies at the core of what it is to be self-governing.