Mandate Of Heaven Lost

One of the most significant signs that the government is firmly on the downward slope is the way minor stories that would've been brushed aside in 1997 or 1998 now develop traction.

The Commonwealth breakfast Olympic scandal is quite heartwarming in its own way - at least if you're a conservative - since it confirms there may be some point to that organisation after all, plus it may well scupper Livingstone's folly before it's gobbled up too much cash.

The hospital ratings scandal is, both by virtue of its subject and the nature of the charges, more serious. Nevertheless, in the honeymoon period Princess Tony would've been able to slither his way through it with his trademark 'pretty, straight kinda guy' BS whereas now people are actually looking at the substance of the charges. To those of us who never trusted the smirky rat, these allegations are nothing new but, for the first time, the public at large is coming to understand the true nature of New Labour. Hopefully, it's not so much the end of the honeymoon, more the beginning of the divorce.