Kay Burley’s face says what the whole country is thinking…

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Is he really going to keep his cool in a TV debate?  He says he has made his mind up, so why doesn’t he say if he will do a debate and when he will do a debate?  Dithering won’t make the issue go away…

UPDATE : The Sun says “Brown Goes into TV Meltdown“, the Daily Mail says “Is He Cracking Up?“

He got slaughtered on BBC Breakfast as well:

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On his somewhat dark looking blog, Nick Assinder, fresh from resigning from PoliticsHome on a point of high principle, suggests this morning that as a result of The Sun switching “Brown will be hurling staplers and mobiles across his hotel room tonight.” Suggesting that the Prime Mentalist is prone to uncontrollable rages and throwing office equipment around the room.

Who said

So, here is a classic example of a dark, unsubstantiated rumour about the Prime Minister’s personal life that owes its existence entirely to a single blog.

about allegations that the Prime Mentalist pops pills?

Does Nick Assinder have a shred of first hand evidence that Gordon Brown is prone to Nokia throwing? Or is this just a classic single example of a blogger’s hypocrisy?

The Sun stopped backing Labour the day Blair left Downing Street, today they formalised their position and came to a testy accommodation with David Cameron, merely giving him a grudging endorsement.

The Sun is ur-Thatcherite in outlook, reflecting the true beliefs of Rupert Murdoch, who does not deny acting as a “traditional proprietor” setting the editorial direction of the tabloid.  Murdoch liked Blair’s hawkishness and is suspicious of Cameron’s timidity on economics.  Trevor Kavanagh is also less than impressed with Cameron, don’t forget when Gordon became PM he predicted that Brown would win the next general election and “win big”.  The Sun is fallible.

The support of The Sun is conditional, Murdoch wants an authentically radical policy agenda.  Cameron is promising only half that agenda.

People who think Andy Coulson is overpaid should reflect on the timing of The Sun’s endorsement. At the most neuralgic point for Labour, in the midst of Mandelson trying to change the media narrative, when party morale just blipped up from flat-lining, The Sun disrupts the storyline.

Spin is about timing, a story works best in the right context, at the right time.  Andy Coulson knows a good headline, it is his sense of timing that is priceless.   Guido will bet a currant bun that Coulson suggested to his successor on the “Bizarre” column, Dominic Mohan, the new Sun editor, that the night of Brown’s fightback speech might be the best time to knock him back to maximum effect.

Courtesy of Lancaster Unite Against Fascism this was the motion debated at the BNP’s Party Conference and adopted by Gordon at the Labour Party conference:

Teenage mothers – the problem and the solution

Any amount of sexual health education is not going to reduce Britain’s high teen pregnancy rates, whilst the ‘rewards’ for becoming an unmarried teen mother remain so [relatively] attractive. The cycle of girls getting pregnant by man A, then being allocated a council flat & welfare benefits, then getting pregnant by man B, and being allocated a bigger council flat & more benefits, then getting pregnant by man C, and being allocated a council house & yet more benefits has got to STOP. It leads to all sorts of social problems, resulting from mothers who are not mature enough to parent effectively, and end up raising dysfunctional families in poverty. It also costs tax payers a lot of money, to fund these ‘alternative’ lifestyles.

Furthermore, people who have been on housing waiting lists for several years, and who conduct themselves in a responsible manner, find themselves being ‘queue-jumped’ by these feckless members of society.

So, I suggest that there be no council flats and no welfare benefits available to unmarried mothers under the age of 21. Instead they will be placed in ‘mother & baby homes’. Here they will receive academic education as well as parenting classes, plus courses covering all aspects of their social development. The homes will be run by ‘matron’ type figures. The homes should not be ‘institution’ like, but at the same time there will be rules which must be adhered to; such as a curfew of approx 9pm, a dress code which states skirts must come to at least the knees & no cleavage to be on show. Failure to comply with the homes’ rules will result in the mother being sent to prison, and the baby being taken in to care.

This is not a short-term remedy, but a long-term solution. Eventually I believe the implementation of this policy will result in a vast decrease in teenage girls becoming pregnant – as the consequences will be positively unattractive. Of course, teenage pregnancies will never be completely eradicated, and the homes will allow for the girls who do still become teen mothers to learn how to be good parents, whilst not being fast-tracked to the top of the housing queue.

If an 18-20 year old pregnant woman is married [marriage should not be an option available to 16/17 year olds, even with parental consent] and her husband has a job, then she will be exempt from going in to one of the homes.’

Nick Griffin will be applauding Gordon Brown’s new policy change.  Last year it was the slogan “British Jobs for British Workers” this year it is wholesale policies.  Norman Tebbit described the BNP as Labour with added racism.  The policy parallels* are increasing…

*Nick Griffin also has only one eye.  Not a lot of people know that.

Locking up teen mums is so New Labour.  What struck Guido was the interesting choice of music at the beginning. “Sit Down” by James which includes the lyrics:

Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they’re touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me

A somewhat insensitive choice for the Prime Mentalist’s entrance…

UPDATE : Nice to see the illegal donor and odd ball David Abrahams back in the audience for the speech again. Guido hears he has been given a “free” ticket for tonight’s Gala Dinner. That will cost him…

UPDATE II : David Miliband’s close adviser Sarah Schaefer was mightily embarrassed last night – so she might want to tap Abrahams for a donation for David’s campaign – her card bounced at the bar when she was getting the drinks in.