I grew up believing that however dishonest our politicians were, we at least had enough checks and balances in this country to stop things getting completely out of control. I used to believe that lying was the exception rather than rule. I think I was being naive.

Today I watched Blair hide behind "national security" as an excuse to avoid even answering questions about whether, in the run-up to a major war, he bugged the office of the man at the top of the organisation responsible for protecting what's left of international law. It seems pretty obvious that he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In the same press conference he tried again to justify the war on Iraq by reminding us how many times Saddam had breached UN resolutions - but he can't have his cake and eat it. How can he invoke the moral authority of the UN when it's clear how little he respects their head guy? And how much respect can he have for the British public if he thinks we'll swallow all this?

I used to think that we live in a relatively democratic, relatively open country but I'm not so sure anymore. Is there any way we can hold Blair accountable or are things just going to get worse? I only have two ideas really - whatever else you say about the US, they at least have a Freedom of Information act, which has been used to good effect by people like Noam Chomsky, and helped to expose government malpractice. Secondly, I think that we have at least to try to put Tony Blair on trial for corruption. Or am I still being naive? I'd be interested to read what other people think.