AS a supposed fan of rock music, Tony Blair could well have a song by The Clash ringing round his head.

The tune in question is unlikely to be I'm So Bored With The USA, considering Tony's general pro-Americanism. I guess it could be Complete Control, although perhaps not these days. London Calling is a bit late for Blair since it is nearly nine years since London and the country called.

It is possible that the Prime Minister could be humming Police On My Back, especially with the cash-for-peerages row having seen the police called in under the terms of a 1925 law banning the sale of peerages. But no, these songs don't quite fit, although another one certainly does. Clash fans will be ahead of me, I'm sure, but the song that sums up the prime ministerial predicament is Should I Stay Or Should I Go. The lyrics, suitably amended here, begin:

"Hey guys you gotta let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine

I'll be here 'til the end of time...

Should I stay or should I go

And let bloody Gordon have his turn?"

The date of Blair's departure from Downing Street has long been an over-heated topic favoured by the journalists who cover national politics. Every remark, gesture or twist of fate is put under a giant media magnifying glass until the Prime Minister begins to turn brown and give off smoke. What a febrile world that is, where temperatures race and rumour rarely sleeps. From a distance, it all looks very exciting, if a little mad.

In such a feverish arena, it was hardly surprising that Blair's comments to an Australian interviewer should have set everything in motion again. In what seems to have been an unguarded moment, brought on perhaps by too many hours in a plane, Blair suggested that he had been wrong to announce his intention to resign as Prime Minister.

Mr Blair said in September 2004 that he would not go for a fourth term, in what was seen as a placatory gesture to the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. That doesn't seem to have stopped the Tony and Gordon love/hate show, with the usual spats, rows and sulks being reported as if heated words had been heard through a thin wall.

It is easy to see that Tony Blair is now living under a black cloud he caused to settle over his own head. He surely did make a mistake in saying he would go, especially as the "when" part is now becoming more pertinent.

My money is on Blair staying for another year. If he stepped down in May 2007, he would have been at Number 10 for ten years. But it would be perfectly legit for him to go all the way.

Should Gordon Brown be allowed a smooth succession? I worry about him becoming Prime Minister without having earned the right by standing in an election. Isn't leading the country too important a task for such a sleight of hand?

If I am being playful with my Clash theme, sometimes that is the only approach to politics - either that or you have to rise to a dizzy point of red-eyed fury atop a column of the hottest air available. Personally, I can't get that worked up nowadays. It is true that Tony Blair provokes strong reactions in some people, with one Evening Press reader saying in a readers' letter yesterday that Mr Blair was "the worst Prime Minister this country has ever had the misfortune to elect to office".

That strikes me as a bit strong. I'd say he was a big disappointment more than anything else, a leader who came to power with an unassailable Commons majority and the goodwill of the nation behind him.

But what exactly did Tony Blair do with his charmed entry ticket? Some still think of him as a great achiever, but I'd say he has frittered too many opportunities. But it has to be a compliment of sorts that the brightest hope the Tories have is in their own, as yet unsullied, version of Blair.

Updated: 09:58 Thursday, March 30, 2006