New details of Tony Blair’s plans for his five-storey 19th-century home in Connaught Square, west London, have arrived at Westminster town hall. The former prime minister wants to up the number of solar panels on the roof from four to six and install new windows and doors. He also has plans for a “glazed link” and a “privacy screen”. I would tell you more, but Westminster council says anyone who wants to look at the documents has to apply to the Diplomatic Protection Group, an arm of the Metropolitan Police.

Meanwhile, the square now feels quite unwelcoming, say locals, who are eyeballed by the machinegun-toting policemen patrolling the pavement outside fortress Blair.

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