Tory taunts for being on his "current visit to the UK", caused Tony Blair to claim that the opposition are pursuing a policy of "isolationism" during PMQ's yesterday.

As commentators outside the chamber also compared Blair to former prime ministers such as Churchill, Macmillan and Thatcher who all embarked on heavy diplomatic tours abroad while neglecting problems at home, the prime minister argued the alternative was to follow the Tory line which he said was "the Howard Hughes school of diplomacy."