Cameron V Brown

There is part of me that could quite begin to feel sorry for Gordon Brown.

For eight years he has been robbing blind those who have not retired through abusing the pension system. He has also been stealing money from those who have retired by punative council tax rises. All this just to pay for the huge rises in public spending demanded by his pal next door, none of which has produced the improvements in public services we should be seeing.

Why did he do it? Because he was told that if he did he would land the top job. He has kept quiet in public, bided his time and waited, every now and then asking when and then going off in another long sulk.

And then...just when he thinks Blair is on the ropes and has started to lose the plot, as well as parliamentary votes, what happens?

The Conservatives look destined to elect a younger fresher face to politics. A real challenger to Labour and one which will cause real problems for both them and that other party of the left, the Lib Dems. On top of that the Governor of the Bank of England starts telling everyone that the economy is going pear shaped and Brown is to blame.

What will be the outcome of a Cameron V Brown fight? Will it make Brown older and less telegenic than he is now? Might even Charlie Kennedy start to look old?