Alistair Darling

Better looking than Clegg?
One of the facts behind the present political turmoil is that for each hour that the UK gets along without a 'proper' parliament so spreads the notion that the political elite are not as essential as they would have us think. Prior to the election we were told the sky would fall in unless a strong government was elected, clearly this is not so. How the world financial markets will react in the early hours of Monday morning, then throughout the week, remains to be seen. As it now seems that Nulabour will be on the way out by then, perhaps there will be a breathing space.

How different all this is from the first days of Nulabour in 1997. Then Tony Blair told us his Chancellor, Gordon Brown, would "hit the ground running". This was essential to undo all those problems left behind by the previous government, unlike now; by contrast these days Brown is a lot slower to move, some say he plans to glue himself to the No10 office chair! Also, the longer the waiting-for-government stage goes on, the weaker and less relevant Brown and Nulabour become.

But what of our man Clegg? The latest news is that he has set a deadline for the conclusion of talks with the Tories. So is Clegg pushing the Tories or are his supporters pushing him? Setting a deadline this way may look tough, or perhaps he thinks it does, it may also be foolish.

To a bright new future?

Recently Lord Mandy opened his heart to us, we were told how Nulabour had ruined his career. Well there are many people who could say that right now, but naturally it's all eyes on Mandy.

But simpering adulation where simpering adulation is due, I think we can assume that's what he's after?

First there is the idea, hinted at in the Times article (link above), that this man had a glorious path mapped out for him. But then whoosh! Along came two Scots guys, one really slimy and the other just uggy and life went *gang aft agley soon after that, with poor Mandy hanging on for dear life as the Blair project sped down the road. How unlucky, how unfortunate!

Point out, speak out
Our Chancellor, Alistair Darling, see right, has got himself into a spot of bother and all because of what he said in the Guardian, see HERE. Normally very generous to Nulabour heavies, the paper was rewarded with a quote or two which may in time, so we are told, come back to haunt him. But why? Was what Darling said a remark too far or is it the endorsement of what the man-in-the-street, 'our man', had known for ages? Namely that the UK economy is not in rude health now and it could get worse. If it is the latter then what we are not told, is why Darling lags behind 'our man' in terms of perception and speaking out; is Darling afraid and if so of what? If it is the former, a remark too far and so the classic gaffe, then 'our man' will wonder if Darling's honesty will cost him his job. After all 'our man' is worried about keeping his job, so why not have doubts about Darling keeping his job too? The chances are that those remarks are not one man's moment of madness and will not be forgotten. So how do other countries and their politicians square this circle, speak out or keep quiet?

Big tent

It is not only mathematicians who look for patterns in events to find solutions to problems, we can all do it. Those of you who can bear to think back on the Northern Rock saga (it hurts) will recall that our Chancellor Alistair Dalek, the safe pair of eyebrows, had a cunning plan. He was to sell bonds to raise money to sort it out. But just in case of the unlikely event of this not working out, Ron Sandler was to head up the nationalised rump of this once glorious company. And look what happened. Well old clever-stick Alistair is at it again.