Spiked

If Gordon Brown could actually do an impersonation, the most appropriate would probably be the piece of dialogue delivered by Jack Nicholson in playing the part of Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in the film "A Few Good Men".

Disasters aside - and there but for the grace of decent PR aides go most politcians - the events of the last 24 hours whilst undoubtedly damaging to Labour's standing in the polls have also paradoxically cleared away an impediment to their ability to strike a post-election power sharing deal. Given his horrendous gaffe and a less than convincing performance in other fields, there is little chance of Gordon remaining at the helm following the party's inevitable defeat next week. And it will not just be frustrated cabinet colleagues calling for his head on a spike but grassroots activists who will also insist that he goes.

If Brown's successor can also convince what is left of his or her parliamentary party to curtail their overall life expectancy by agreeing to electoral reform then there is a deal in the making - despite what IWJ might have to say from the sideline.

Update: And the hits just keep on coming for Gordon (another quote from the same film)