Back, Brown and Broke

Well, that was fun. I seem to have missed little while I was away - the TeeBeeGeeBees still continue unabated; ID cards are still going to be compulsory; Oxford are still better than Cambridge and Ken Livingstone is still making peculiarly offensive remarks. On the other hand the sun is at least shining now, so perhaps things are changing.

Not much though. Nothing in the British political sphere will really change until Blair finally does go. At the moment everything that the Labour Party does is viewed through the Blair/Brown prism. From pensions to schools to the NHS, nothing that is said is presumed to relate to its actual subject, but is assumed to be more manoeuvering in the endless struggle.

For the Conservatives, the heart of their strategy appears to be an attack on the Chancellor, both for his personality itself, and for the impact this has on his policies - arrogant, inflexible and unpleasant. But this is limited utility while Blair remains. The Tories look and sound as though they are stuck in second gear - engine racing maybe but little significant forward momentum being made.

And the LibDems? Ming and Cable, 64 and 62, do not look the most dynamic team in the world. Maybe they'll be bringing in some fresh blood soon? I hear that Sir Herbert Samuel and Jo Grimond might be interested.