It is ironic that Mark stopped Dire Straits because it all got to big, and this tour he has more musicians on stage than any of his previous solo tours, so maybe he feels he is getting back to it being to big again, so I truly believe this to be the last big scale tour, but I also believe he will perform some shows in a much more scaled down situation.
As for Alan Clark, he should realise how lucky his "career" has been, and he seems very two faced, being with Guy and John at the RRHOL, then slating Mark. And I think Jon Bon Jovi is more a fan of Mark, as I remember he stated once how he wished he has written Romeo & Juliet, and he used the line "I can't sing a love song, like the way it's meant to be" in his song Always, which also has the Romeo character.