After his speech, one MP remarked to me: "If you'd have set it to music, we'd have danced."

And although I didn't find myself performing the Tony Blair Lambada, today's speech did mark another accomplished appearance from the former prime minister.

For one thing, he didn't have to repeat his message to get his point across. For another, he wasn't required to talk about the Iraq war or Gordon Brown.

It was a Progress audience, so it was (arguably) his audience. 

Highlights from his speech included:

"When they [the Tories] goad you by saying they're carrying on my policies, it's not because I believe what they believe; but because they want you to believe that I believe what they believe. So they hope we will relinquish the policies that made us winners and embrace the policies that made us lose. It's an old Tory trap. best thing: don't fall into it."

"It was not a government of continuity, I'm afraid, from 1997 to 2010 pursuing the same politics. It was 10 + 3."

"There is no point in being prissy about it. Parties of the left have a genetic tendency, deep in their DNA, to cling to an analysis that they lose because the leadership is insufficiently committed to being left, defined in a very traditional sense. There is always a slightly curious problem with this analysis since usually they have lost to parties of the right. But somehow that inconvenient truth is put to the side. This analysis is grasped with relief. People are then asked to unify around it. Anything else is a distraction, even an act of disloyalty. This strategy never works. Never."

"Nearly always when we lose, we take several elections to find our way back to winning. This time it can be different. It should be different. For the sake of the country, it needs to be different."

"I believe we can and will choose the future, the centre and a return to the place where the big choices are made."

In the Q&A afterwards, Blair also addressed this week's big story of phone hacking. He told the audience: "What has happened with phone hacking is beyond disgusting and sickening actually... I believe our leader Ed Miliband has show real leadership this week.

"There is this huge debate that should take place on relationships between politics and the media... This has opened up the possibility of having it. Prior to this, it was very difficult for anyone as a political leader to articulate this."

Two standing ovations later, he exited before Stephen Twigg even had time to thank him. 

Was I dancing in the aisles? Not really, although it was impressive.

But judging by the reaction around me, his words were certainly music to some Labour ears.

You can read his full speech here.

Tags: Phone hacking, Progress, Tony Blair