Cherie and Laura lead fan club

If only it was always this easy. Tony Blair won rapturous applause from a packed US Congress last night.

There were 17 standing ovations from an audience including Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Hillary Clinton - in marked contrast to the sullen ranks of Labour MPs with whom Mr Blair had to deal in the Commons.

The Prime Minister's poll ratings may be falling back home and some may even be questioning his sanity, but in Washington he's a star. He began with self-deprecating jokes as he thanked members for awarding him a congressional medal. The first had gone to George Washington, for "driving the British from America", he said.

Among the audience was an uncomfortable-looking group of British MPs, including Labour's Brian Donohoe, who last week called on Mr Blair to "consider his position if no weapons of mass destruction were found".

Cherie Blair, wearing a £5,000 hand-woven silk suit by Lindka Cierach, designer of the Duchess of York's wedding dress, and First Lady Laura Bush joined in the adulation.