My wife is absolutely brilliant and some of the Cabinet are also very good. I'm hoping to get better. It's no use telling everyone else to get on the Internet when it's hard to do it yourself. It would be comforting to think that the Prime Minister plans to apply his new-found knowledge to leisurely sessions of Tomb Raider or Grand Theft Auto, in the same way that you feel the world might be a better place if Mrs Thatcher, who notoriously slept for only four hours a night, had enjoyed a nice lie in once or twice a week. It is not to be.
Premiers live for efficiency.
So much of our time is spent travelling. Doubtless to the delight of Mrs Prescott and her hairdresser, Mr Blair has discovered teleconferencing. This is not surprising, for the medium is becoming difficult to miss. It claims to have cornered a tenth of the UK market and to be the fastest growing company of its kind in Europe, connecting the staff of such blue-chip clients as IBM, Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank in virtual meetings. Unfortunately, the point appears to be lost on the teleconference industry itself.