One of them, who I was told was the head teacher, actually went through the crowd picking on particular people saying “YOU! Home now, or you’ll definitely be in trouble!” Several of them, knowing that many of the kids aren’t very assertive, were ripping posters and signs out of their hands, saying “thank you, I’ll have that, thank you, off you go, away you go…” Blatantly trying to shore the situation up for Blair.

read the rest…

(via Tim who has more.)

Update: This from the Telegraph:

To hear Mr Blair’s words, it was necessary to rush away and find a television, which in due course played a tape of his vital announcement about his own future.

This included the words: “I think it’s important for the Labour Party to understand, and I think the majority of people in the party do understand, that it’s the public that comes first and it’s the country that matters, and we can’t treat the public as irrelevant bystanders in a subject as important as who is their prime minister.”

It was odd to hear these words having just been treated by Mr Blair as an irrelevant bystander.