I met Tony Blair briefly, shortly before he became Prime minister. Only for a minute or two, but I was struck by the way he looked at life. And especially by his eyes ( not so much mentioned now as formerly). He seemed to be looking across the world, in a way that was dangerous. The solution also struck me at once - he should go every month to a Greek tragedy - Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, or a modern interpretation such as Strauss's opera Electra. Then in the words of Aristotle his emotions would have been purged with Pity and Fear, and he would have achieved a catharsis, and thus a more balanced and realistic view of the world. I did think of writing to him to this effect but I did not and regret my inaction - not that my advice would have been taken on board
I was perfectly serious about this and I still am. Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. This does mean mad in the sense of mentally unhinged but mad in the sense of seeing the world in the wrong way as Blair did from the beginning and still does
One can see that as Prime Minister he imposed his world view on reality and came up with conclusions that were often highly unfortunate. His modes of thought have been demonstrated in the Chilcot Report ( well done - exactly how serious enquiries should be conducted) and also by his reaction to Chilcot. And as he was " modern" he preferred informality in his government ( "sofa politics") and did not use Parliament, his Cabinet, or his permanent officials in the way that leads to good government
