Tawdry Decline

But, after a political lifetime seeking the job, Mr Brown arrived without a strategy or a project for his premiership.

So says Philip Stephens in an article in yesterday's Financial Times, discussing the decline of Gordon Brown's premiership, and the parallels with the John Major's fin de siecle of the Tory years. The recession may be playing its part in Mr. Brown's difficulties, but there is also the unavoidable sense of decay and hubris afflicting this government, says Stephens.