Gordon Brown is holding a special cabinet meeting in the West Midlands. “My own response to the great challenges in my own life has been to confront them, resolute in the belief that there would always be something that could be done to overcome them,” he says in the foreword to a document being circulated ahead of the Labour Party conference. The briefing is that the Prime Mentalist will tell the cabinet that his personal experience makes him the best man to lead Britain through current economic difficulties. Gordon misunderstands; “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” is a parable, not a qualification to determine economic strategy.

What does Gordon normally do when facing an obstacle? He bullies, undermines and sulks. None of which will stimulate growth to get us out of a recession.

UPDATE : Didn’t Gordon say that this was not a time for “cheap political gimmicks” last week? So, errm, what is this? Good governance? Getting on with the job? A gimmick?