Tony Blair went to university in the early 1970s. It was a time on the whole when rhetoric was frowned upon. People thought it insincere and manipulative; they spoke in a relaxed and laid-back sort of way, meant to sound friendly, open, un-pushy.  That, I suppose, is why he introduces so many sentences with a light laugh, or words like 'look', and 'well . . .' The message is always, 'I think I'm probably right here, but of course you can disagree!'  I'm sure it's the perfect way of persuading the Students' Union not to raise the price of sticky buns in the cafeteria, but it seems slightly inappropriate as a means of rousing a nation to war.  But over the last days and weeks, the Prime Minister's style has crept slowly towards the declamatory. Churchillian cadences are sidling in.  'Day and night, our pilots are risking their lives. . .' he said yesterday, while reporting to the House on Kosovo.  'Day and night, our forces are working . . . And day and night we are preparing for the job we will have to do when our military objectives are met.'  It doesn't quite work in a television age. It's as if Alan Titchmarsh from Ground Force were to stop giggling and declaim: 'I shall not rest until the scourge of weeds has been eliminated from this plot, this blessed patch of earth, this Eden men call 47 Acacia Grove . . .'  'Ethnic cleansing must be defeated, and seen to be defeated. Milosevic's policies must be defeated, and seen to be defeated,' the Prime Minister continued, but in the manner of Mr Perkins of personnel explaining how important it was to replace the toner in the Xerox.  The House was divided, between the majority who see the Kosovo Liberation Army, as heroes of our time, and those who regard them as moustachioed drug dealers who have enlisted Nato as their own personal heavies.  Donald Anderson wanted them armed and trained to fight alongside our lads. 'They know the terrain, and can help our forces,' he said.  Mr Blair reacted as if he'd suggested enlisting Yardies to help with race relations.  Tam Dalyell, who opposes the bombing, asked a perfect Tam question. This always takes the following form: 'Is the Prime Minister aware that [name of somebody you have never heard of] firmly believes that [something Tam agrees with].'  'Are you aware of the judgment of Spyros Kyprianou that this will go on for 100 days? Or that the German Federal Criminal Agency points out that the ethnic Albanian community are the most prominent group in European drug trafficking?'  'Oh, Tam,' moaned some MPs. Mr Blair bridled. 'I really can't understand your comments about the Albanian community,' he said. Didn't Tam realise, he implied, that the plucky Kosovans are on our side, for the time being at least? Clearly ethnic cleansing is one thing; ethical cleansing quite another.  Roger Gale quoted someone better known, the BBC's John Simpson. He had reported from Belgrade that the bombs were 'the best recruiting sergeant for Milosevic'.  Mr Blair made a rare attack on the Sainted Simpson. 'We should treat with suspicion reports on TV, when we know how they see only what the Serbian government wants them to see.'  Some of us suspected this was actually aimed at another TV reporter, Martin Bell, who is thought beyond criticism, and who had declared that 'circumstances on the ground can only be changed by boots on the ground'.  Alan Clark finds himself in agreement with much of the Labour left, but for opposite reasons. 'We are associating ourselves with the sustained bombing of a brave and Christian people who have never injured or threatened a single British citizen.'  The lefties looked distinctly queasy at that support.