A tidal wave of embarassment

So, we have Charles Clarke admitting that, on being told about a lapse in prison security his response was to step up the rate at which prisoners recommended for deportation were released. We have John Prescott shagging his way through various office staff. We have Inspector Knacker slowly making his way to door of No. 10 over the sale of peerages. And now we have Patricia Hewitt, the worlds most patronising person, getting humiliated at the Nurses Conference.

The sheer profusion of embarassing stories is getting alarmingly reminiscent of the last days of John Major's Government, although the key protagonists there tended to be anonymous backbenchers rather than the Deputy Prime Minister or Home Secretary. When Clarke resigns and Hewitt gets fired who on earth is thhere to step up to the plate? Has there ever been a cabinet with as little talent as this? And has there ever been a less inspiring collection of possible re-inforcements? The Government just looks tired and soiled: time for a change.