By Catherine Drew, @drewc2u
The Guardian newspaper described him as being like an embarrassing aging relative that only gets invited to the wedding to avoid awkward questions about why he wasn't there.
Is Tony Blair, three times victor in general elections (1997, 2001, 2005) really so toxic that the current Labour leader, PM hopeful Ed Miliband, doesn't appear keen to share a stage with him?
Nevertheless Blair has been wheeled out after what must have been a fierce debate within the Labour leadership. Imagine the exchange...."He still has clout, he can argue the tricky case against an EU membership referendum" may have been answered by "Yes but many people consider him a war criminal."
If you doubt that latter sentiment, I refer you to Twitter.
Listening to Blair, I was reminded how persuasive a politician he is. “Leaving Europe would leave Britain diminished and go against the qualities that mark us out as a great global nation” he said.
You don't get the chance to hear him often. Since his retirement in 2007, neither Gordon Brown or Ed Miliband have sought him out. Indeed Ed Miliband has taken the Labour party to the left in a bid to win back traditional voters and move the party on from so called Blairism and what was called "New Labour" back in the late 1990s.
But today a relaxed-looking Tony Blair gave Ed Miliband his "100 per cent" backing and praised him as "his own man". Some will see this as a warm endorsement after previous disagreements, while to others, it could be a poisoned chalice.
So is he the embarrassing relative, or is he the wise elder statesman?
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