Tony Blair, responding to questions about leaked reports that he had had to refrain George Bush from bombarding the al-Jazeera TV station, said, “but honestly, I mean, conspiracy theories...”

Yes, we know what he means.

He means that using the phrase “conspiracy theory” in a disparaging tone suggests that it can be ignored. It is like David Icke saying that the world is ruled by shape-shifting aliens. He means that we should immediately dismiss reports that indicate there might be a conspiracy going on.

You all remember David Icke. He was the man who wore a turquoise track suit and said that he was the Son of God. Except that he never did say that. He said we are all sons and daughters of God, which is an entirely different concept altogether.

Personally I think that David Icke is part of a conspiracy to undermine conspiracy theory.

Someone once said, “just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” In the same way, referring dismissively to conspiracy theory doesn’t mean there is no conspiracy.

There are different levels of conspiracy, of course. There may not be any aliens in control of our planet - who knows? - but it is a fair bet that there are all sorts of reptilian characters up to no good. Sometimes they meet in rooms. Sometimes, indeed, they are members of the government. This is, by definition, a conspiracy.

Adam Smith, the great eighteenth century economic thinker, referred to the “vile maxim of the masters of mankind: all for ourselves and nothing for other people,” adding that whenever two industrialists meet there is a conspiracy to defraud the public.

Some things never change.

Adam Smith is so beloved of the Tories, by the way, that they even named an institute after him. They just forgot to tell us what he actually said.

Is there a conspiracy? Of course there is a conspiracy. It is the age-old conspiracy of the very rich to stay very rich. The only question is, how far will they go to achieve their aims?

One of the ways is by bribing people in high office. The irony is that we watch it going on before our eyes without even recognising it. It is hidden in plain view.

So how do you know whether a politician is corrupt or not? That’s easy. If he or she leaves office considerably wealthier than when they entered office, then it is clear that they are corrupt.

So why did Tony Blair go to Los Angeles a few weeks ago? He went there at the invitation of Rupert Murdoch to meet world’s wealthy elite.

He was touting for work in the lucrative after-dinner speech market. Tony Blair - already a wealthy man - is set to get much, much richer.

There’s a line in the film about the Watergate conspiracy, All The Presiden't Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. The undercover informer Deep-Throat meets one of the reporters in an underground car-park. The reporter asks for advice on how to unravel the complex knot of information they have regarding the cover-up, and Deep-Throat replies, simply:

“Follow the money.”

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More of Chris' works may be found at:

• C. J. Stone author of The Trials of Arthur, about a modern-day King Arthur, Fierce Dancing, The Last of the Hippies, and Housing Benefit Hill, a compilation of his Guardian Weekend columns.