Our new leader?

Tony Blair has emerged as a possible candidate for "Fuhrer of Europe", a new post created by the treaty approved by EU leaders at their Lisbon summit.

The former prime minister's name was put in the frame yesterday by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Gauleiter, who described Mr Blair as "a very remarkable man – the most European of all Britons." He added: "To think of him would be a good idea."

The treaty scraps the current system under which one country holds the EU's rotating presidency for six months. It will be replaced by the appointment of a President, who will chair EU meetings, drive through its agenda and serve for two-and-a-half years.

Gordon Brown, Leader of the Scottish Gau and allied territories said: "Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job."

But he said it was premature to speculate on who might fill the post because the appointment would not be made until the treaty had been ratified by member states next year.

It has been rumoured that Mr. Brown has made a booking at the famous ‘Italian Pudding’ restaurant to discuss the appointment and any possible future occupiers of the position were Mr Blair to be successful. Benito, owner of ‘Italian Pudding’, said he was delighted to have received a booking from the pair as they had not been in for a bite in over a decade.

Friends doubt that Mr Blair would want the job. The new President would not be as powerful as the title or £200,000-a-year package suggests and although the salary is exceptional by most peoples standards it may not be sufficient to cover Mr. Blair’s mortgage repayments.

Further details (and more accurate historical analogies) are awaited.