Olympics - so she's the one to blame!

Amid all the excitement and national celebration in the run-up to the Olympics, it seems there is an unsung heroine in our midst:

Cherie Blair was instrumental in securing the 2012 games for London [...] according to her husband, the former Prime Minister.

They just can't leave it alone! Not only have they reappeared just in time for the hospitality - like some ghastly distant relatives turning up at every family shindig on the offchance of some free champagne - they are now happy to assume the dubious distinction of arranging the whole bunfight in the first place.

Blair's re-appearance was bad enough, what with his hiring of a new spin doctor and his reported intention to 'make an impact on the home front'; now he's insisting Cherie gets a share of the Olympic limelight too:

'Strangely my wife played a very big part in this really".

Funny - I thought she was meant to be having a high-profile legal career (when she isn't herding goats for Widows' Day or taking part in cake sales); I shouldn't have thought it left much time for fawning on the members of the IOC.

Blair said that his wife had travelled abroad to speak to some of the less well-known delegates to secure their votes.

"My wife was very, very good at going to different countries and seeing people who were the less significant people."

Well, that, at least, has the ring of truth - she's never been one to turn down a free holiday. Still, it would be interesting to find out what Seb Coe and the rest of the London 2012 bid team think about it.

Meanwhile, I wonder whether Tony's attempt to shoe-horn his wife into the public eye once more is connected with reports that one of their spawn has chucked in his banking job and intends to become a Labour MP (with the backing, presumably, of his parents' not inconsiderable fortune).

The thought of being ruled forever by a Blair-Booth dynasty is almost bad enough to distract one from the horror in store at the end of this week as the host nation attempts to beat the record for the number of toes simultaneously curling across the globe.

As Mary Poppins abseils into the arena to save the word from Voldemort, to the accompaniment of a massed chorus of dancing nurses, firemen and 70 sheep, and the world looks on in stunned disbelief, perhaps we may find it in ourselves to give credit where it's due and remember that we owe it all to Cherie.