New thread for a new day

I just had to laugh at the BBC's live feed title

LIVE: Gordon Brown fights for his future

It really is a bloodsport isn't it?

In other news, Darling is staying, because he threatened to quit entirely if he was moved - this cabinet ain't going anywhere*, so basically we're reduced to moving deckchairs

*...except down

Edit: Is it just me or has the BBC live feed got a bit too many pro-Labour messages? Methinks a certain party is spamming...and for BBC 'balance' enquiries - see them referring to new Lord Alan Sugar as 'Tsar' - applying soviet labels to the party you supposedly prop up is always clear bias....

Surely this is it?

Surely a crushing defeat must signal the end for Brown today?

Purnell has now gone, 3 ministers in 3 days, and the reshuffle is looking more like a game of 'guess who' with the little plastic pictures being flicked down in succession - there's nobody left, it's going to just be Brown, Balls and Milliband after this - and if you ask me I think the ministers have realised their public ratings are only going to go up if they get out now, I'm surprised the Millipede hasn't gone yet

So that's a cabinet falling apart (or 'working really hard' according to the party line) and some highly damaging results, Labour are clearly splitting - people often compare the equivalent Tory ideological split over the EU as not being present in Labour, but there's clearly a scrap between the Blairites and the Brownites - or left and right in ideological terms , it's not as massive as the European rift but it is too much on such a weak government - and frankly all the statements that they are working hard and doing a good job are just facile now, they are weak, and they are falling apart

But I just have to ask - in this stuation surely he MUST go?! Almost the whole of England is voting, and the other part of the country crushed Labour a year or two ago, if that happens it is a massive vote of no confidence from the people

You cannot put it down to simple 'mid-term blues' - we are less than a year away from the use-by date and the convention is four years

This PM already has no democratic mandate and there's about to be clear electoral proof they don't want Labour anymore - anyone with a shred of decency would surely see a general election as being in the national interest

There's nowhere to hide anymore, if Brown really does cling on through this situation he is going to become the most ridiculed and hated PM in British history, he's going down as worse than Eden and Chamberlain

The advantage of being down under is I can now watch as the overnight results come in - what I'm really looking forward to is Tory or Lib Dem areas losing Labour concillors from minority poisitions

Sure to be updates..

UPDATE: True to my word, I'm keeping an eye on developments - Labour slip to third and hand Lib Dems control in Bristol

The first result is an eight seat loss for Labour, putting them third and handing a majority to the Lib Dems - I told you the interesting feature would be the losses in non-Labour areas - the Tories second in the south-west? Quite telling

So much for the threat of the BNP...

UPDATE: It would appear the new county of Central Bedfordshire hasn't even returned a Labourite - 11 Lib Dems and 54 Tories...ouch - It's a Tory heartland, but no seats? It's right next to Luton, I'm really interested to see if Cambridgeshire can drop all four of its Labour councillors

UPDATE: Morning, big news: Lincolnshire remains Tory, wow... but again, Labour slip to third with only 4 seats - losing 15 seats, the Tories gain, slight Lib Dem loss, and there's a gain for 'others' - I don't know who this is, but it's a small party (not BNP, UKIP or Green) - if they are the same party they are in fact third, above Labour...(mini-update: 'Lincolnshire Independents' took four seats - tying with Labour for third)

Interesting how the Lib Dems have lost out while the Tories and independents gained, I find that quite strange, I shall have to research Lincolnshire's local situation

So far Labour have lost 23 out of only 43...more than half

Question

Seriously, Gordon keeps saying he's doing something, he's 'dealing with the problems' and is 'working to deal with expenses...and the recession'

All well and good - but what actually are you doing?? No legislative programme, MPs complaining there is nothing to do...the Tories have the impetus on expenses

So what is all this work? He keeps saying it, and no-one really challenges him on it, probably because he'll run off a list of banks he saved - but he does nark me off when we have such a shoddy legislative program and he says they're working hard and doing something - No, they're not!!

Raining on my parade

Some feminist drivel that I'm too enraged to actually write about

I have however, finally found out that Johann Hari is in fact, male (I'm not joking, I honestly didn't know)

Crack the champagne!

It's a minor victory now, but I've waited for this day for nearly two years so I still feel a lot of pleasure in looking at the BBC front page: Home Secretary Smith to stand down

The fascist ignoramus is going!! Of course, her replacement will still be a Brown lackey who is probably even less qualified, but she has been so bad, so evil, so idiotic, so unqualified that I really don't care - the new Home Sec could be Stalin for all I care, they will have their hands tied for the next eleven months

Who will it be? It seems best-mate Balls is going to Number 11, and personally I think the only people capable are Straw and Johnson, and I doubt Straw would take the job again, so maybe it'll be a way to placate the Johnson fan club, these are of course just my unfounded ideas - it'll probably be a squeaky clean backbencher

But she's gone, no matter that the future is hardly bright, it's like when you just escape a deadly situation and you don't care that you're probably still in another, you're still relieved

I'll leave with this comment from the Harperson to demonstrate the complete load of bollocks politics really is: "I think she is an outstanding home secretary."