Did he really say that?

I have just started to read the book, "The United States of Europe" by the veteran Washington post hack, and former London bureau cheif, TR Reid. What struck me wasn't the ten errors of fact about the EU in the first two pages (the EU has a constitution, which, though the book was written before the no votes is stil a silly and I fear optomistic error). No what really struck me was this quote from Tony Blair during the 2001 EU summit, a summit distinguished by a row between Finland and Italy about the location of the European Food Agency.
"You know, these summits makes sense if you try and have a sense of history. I mean when the thing is getting tiresome, you have to remember what we are doing here. We are building a new world superpower. The European Union is about the projection of collective power, wealth and influence".

Yes you did read that, "a new world superpower".