Tony Blair gets to Obama first

With God on his side, Tony Blair still has the ability to charm. Despite his close friendship with George Bush, which many assumed would poison any potential relationship with Barack Obama, Blair has somehow persuaded the new president - and his first lady (pictured) - to award him 'first friend' status, before Gordon Brown even gets a look-in.

"I want to thank my good friend Tony Blair for coming today, somebody who did it first and perhaps did it better than I will do," gushed Obama at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in DC on Thursday. "He has been an example for so many people around the world of what dedicated leadership can accomplish. And we are very grateful to him."

The flattery will have come as a huge relief to Blair. There was speculation that he was worried, first, that with Dubya gone, he might no longer have any influence in Washington, and, second, that his position as the Quartet's Middle East envoy might be undermined by Obama's appointment of George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy. Both worries seem a long way away after Obama's warm welcome.

Blair used his breakfast speech in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel to urge that faith should be restored "to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future". He said he believed the 21st century would be "poorer in spirit" and "meaner in ambition" if it was not "under the guardianship of faith in God".

And he added: "It is fitting at this extraordinary moment in your country's history that we hear that call to action; and we pray that in acting we do God's work and follow God's will."

In Downing Street days, Blair had to keep his religious conviction in check - spin-meister Alastair Campbell famously said: "We don't do God" - but he can now give full vent to his deeply held beliefs. He even ended his Washington speech with a bishoply "God bless you all".

One word of comfort to Gordon Brown, who according to The First Post's Westminster Mole insider is already planning a trip to DC: despite the warm words, Blair did not get a private chat with Obama following the breakfast. ·