The Jacqui Smith continuation thread
Once again… can she survive?… and is Darling in trouble too?
From James Forsyth at the Spectator’s Coffee House blog:
“These revelations are so damaging because they will lead to the voters just laughing at the government. When the electorate rages at a government, its members can at least console themselves they are being taken seriously. But when they are being mocked, there is no such consolation… Labour should prepare itself for a year that will be even more humiliating for it than the last year of the Major government with all its tabloid tales of Tory sleaze was for the Conservatives.”
Latest prices on Home Secretary at the end of the year are here – Smith is quoted at 11-10, but if you believe that she won’t last the year and the GE is 2010, how about Purnell at 10-1, Ed Miliband at 12’s, or maybe even Johnson and Denham both at 20?
Meanwhile, Alistair Darling may be in trouble too, over the collapse of the Dunfermline Building Society, with its chairman appearing to say that the Treasury have been lying about him. Fraser Nelson wonders if there could be serious implications for the Chancellor:
“Conspiracy theorists will note that, if he has slipped, it will be a good time for No 10 to send the dogs after him – punishing him for his collusion with Mervyn King over trying to stop Brown launching a second stimulus. I would not be surprised if some knives come out for Darling now: this is how Brown operates. This story may just be the opening that Brown’s attack dogs need.”
International round-up:
Double Carpet
Editor’s Note: Mike should be back on the site by late afternoon tomorrow