General Election

I think Gordon Brown would be mad not to call an election. Things can only get worse for him:

• the UK is in no position to meet a recession with borrowing so high;
• at the moment, due to clever spin, the people think the Northern Rock debacle was the Bank of England's fault
• house prices may go down next year
• the only way to cover over the European Constitutional mess is to put it in the small print of the manifesto that he'll sign it only if his (unspecified or vague) reservations are met.
• No one has a clue what Cameron is about
• A short election campaign means the Tories' financial advantage is reduced (there are laws about how much you can spend during the campaign)

However there is the nature of the man. On the surface he is a big noisy bully but underneath that a nail-biting ditherer. I wonder if he'll chicken out and go for 2010 when it all just might have blown over?