Cameron’s meeting with Blair was a deplorable stitch-up

In 15 years of covering domestic politics I have never reported on anything half as sordid as Tuesday’s meeting between Tony Blair and David Cameron in the Prime Minister’s L-shaped Commons office. Afterwards David Cameron took it upon himself to issue the standard Blairite defence of the recent scandals: ‘We have a relatively uncorrupt party system but we do have a party funding system that is in a mess.’ Charlie Falconer, the Prime Minister’s chief apologist during the funding scandal, couldn’t have put it better.

A spokesman for the Tory party indicated that the occasion was forward-looking, asserting that it was held to discuss looming reforms of party funding. But this claim made no sense. If true, there would have been no need for privacy. Quite the reverse. Cameron would have made his case in public, rather than scuttling into Blair’s office. Nor would it have been a matter for Blair and Cameron alone.