Tony Blair usually gets what he wants, as befits a Prime Minister who has led his party to two landslide victories and holds a 165-seat Commons majority. When Blair feels strongly about an issue, opposition M.P.s, Labour backbenchers, even Cabinet ministers with a slightly different viewpoint are left gnashing their teeth as the Downing St. juggernaut powers by as it recently did on war with Iraq. Why, then, is it Blair who is now standing by in scarcely concealed frustration, impotent to lead Britain into the single currency, and thus to the more central role in Europe he so passionately...
