Peter Vaines suggests that the government turns over a new leaf
Now is a good time to look back over 2007 with a glow of satisfaction— or perhaps to draw a veil over the events of the year and to resolve that 2008 will be better. I imagine Gordon Brown (and Alistair Darling) will have mixed feelings. As Brown looks back he will remember the joy of finally reaching the summit of his ambition. He will not want to forget those heady days immediately following his succession to that other chap—whose name seems already to have been forgotten—when he could do no wrong. If we had given him a cricket bat, or a pair of rugby boots, he would have won the World Cups all on his own. Unfortunately, his period of satisfaction lasted no longer than the traditional cigarette and he now must be looking forward to 2008 in the hope that nobody remembers much about 2007—nor his contribution to previous years either. Somehow, I don’t think so.
Darling found himself catapulted into one of the great offices of state and you
