Cameron attacks 'pop star' Blair

David Cameron has attacked Tony Blair for behaving like a "pop star" on a farewell tour at the expense of government business.

With chancellor Gordon Brown already confirmed as his successor, Blair should stand down immediately, the Conservative leader said on Monday.

"This situation is rapidly becoming absurd. There are urgent problems in our country, like the crisis in the NHS, that need to be sorted out now," he said.

"Instead we have to put up with the farce of Labour's non-election campaign, with Gordon Brown wandering around the country doing nothing but indulging his vanity."

He questioned the point of Blair holding meetings with cabinet ministers "who may not keep their jobs in a few weeks time" and attending international summits in June days before he will leave office.

"In this country, we don't do farewell tours," he said. "Tony Blair was elected to be the prime minister of our country, not a pop star.

"We cannot afford week after week of decisions being made that could be reversed, ministers in posts who could be removed, civil servants not knowing who's in charge, and Parliament not being able to hold the government to account properly."

The prime minister responded by accusing Cameron of "flailing around" to cover up tensions within his own party.

Speaking during a visit to a north London hospital, Blair said: "I am doing these things for the country that I am in the middle of and that I am going to complete.

"We have a G8 summit; I presume he's not saying Britain should not be represented at all.

"I am working on a climate change deal there, it's important that we do this as a country."

He said there were important issues on the NHS, energy, planning, transport and anti-terror legislation which needed to be tackled "as a government" before he leaves Downing Street on June 27.