"But honestly, I mean, conspiracy theories…"

Looking tired, [Tony Blair] appeared to lose his cool when asked about reports claiming that the memo showed him talking Mr Bush out of mounting an air raid on al-Jazeera. "Look, there's a limit to what I can say - it's all sub judice," he said. "But honestly, I mean, conspiracy theories…"



Conspiracy theory (n. pej.): Any accusation of serious government wrongdoing that has not yet been proven in a court of law.

Conspiracy theorist (n. pej.): In ruling-class parlance, anyone who suspects that the government has been guilty of serious wrongdoing. A reliable thought-stopper, the term "conspiracy theorist" serves to distract attention from facts inconvenient to the government by casting doubt on the sanity of anyone conversant with those facts.