'Blair' doodles drawn by billionaire

A SHEET of doodles that sparked a debate on the state of Tony Blair’s mind was actually created by the Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates, it was revealed yesterday.

The scribbled notes were found on the Prime Minister’s desk following last week’s International Economic Forum in Switzerland, where Mr Blair appeared alongside Mr Gates and the U2 singer Bono.

Handwriting experts and psychologists, who were drafted in at short notice, drooled over what the notes, squares, circles and jottings revealed about his personality. Graphologist Emma Bache concluded Mr Blair was "slightly out of control, very frustrated and stressed", and that the doodles suggested "more than a hint of megalomania".

And a psychologist, Elaine Quigley, said the notes showed that Mr Blair was "struggling to concentrate and his mind is going everywhere".

One scribble included a reference to "MSP", prompting speculation that Mr Blair’s mind was on Scotland.

But Downing Street yesterday announced that the notes were not made by the Prime Minister at all but were by Mr Gates.

A spokesman said the hand-writing was completely different from that of the Prime Minister and added that Downing Street insiders were waiting "with amusement" to hear an explanation of how the comments about Mr Blair could also be applied to the Microsoft chairman.

The spokesman said: "On Thursday a number of newspapers printed stories claiming that a page of notes and doodles left behind on the platform belonged to Tony Blair and provided an ‘insight into the mind of the Prime Minister’. They were in fact doodles made by Bill Gates.

"We look forward with amusement to explanations by a variety of psychologists and graphologists of how various characteristics ascribed to the PM on the basis of the doodles, such as ‘struggling to concentrate’, ‘not a natural leader’, ‘struggling to keep control of a confusing world’ and ‘an unstable man who is feeling under enormous pressure’, equally apply to Mr Gates."

The spokesman added: "We are astonished that no-one who ran the story thought to ask No10 if the doodles were in fact Mr Blair’s ... as it was obvious to anyone the handwriting was totally different."