Gordon Brown is a nail-bitingly bad disaster. His fatal indecisiveness permeates his administration. Hie second-rate Machiavellian tendencies were bearable when directed in private at Blair, but now they make him look an arse in public. His inept scheming has made him look both stupid and untrustworthy. Turning up to sign a treaty on his own: pathetic. Signaling an election and then not having the guts to carry out: dreadful. Scrapping the 10p tax rate to catch the Tories out: useless. Everything he does now looks like a scheme to gain political advantage - even when it isn’t. Power for power’s sake; policies from conviction or evidence? Forget it.

It does not matter how often the point about the 10p tax rate is made that you have to look at the budget as a whole, the perception has changed. Winning any vote will be a Pyrrhic victory.

Losing, of course, will be a catastrophe. It will damage Labour in the short-term. Combined with the expected loss of the vote over 42 days detention of terror suspects, it may be the end of Brown.

Suddenly the catastrophe doesn’t look so bad. The real disaster would be to have Brown fight the next election.

Let’s hope for a catastrophe.

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.

Mecca Time.

I prefer Hammer Time. It has more evidence, and is certainly more fun.

Alan Johnson has laid the Euston manifesto to rest in a public rite notable for its almost exclusive use of past tense forms of Decentleftish. There will now be a period of official mourning. I suggest that we all show some respect to those who grieve at this sorrowful time.

Here’s an interesting documentary on Amy [iplayer 6 days left], a drama student who pole dances. Check out the “difference feminist” soft porn actor, the student sleeping with 50 year-olds as an escort to get through a business degree, the PR wanker at the Brits who is every bit as exploitative as the pole dancing firm, and Pete, the moronic lecturer who moves in with his student pole dancer (and visits her place of work to “check it out”).