Charles Clarke sinks further into it...

Charles Clarke is in even more trouble now. The thing to remember about these people is that they have actually served their sentences, therefore in reality they should be no more of a threat to people than any other British prisoner who gets released at the end of their sentence. The ever excellent Jonathan Freedland writes about it here with great clarity. I particuarly agree with this part of the piece and is something I talked about yesterday:

Was this Labour's Black Wednesday? Hardly. The Tories nightmare day in 1992 was horrendous because it affected every single voter - by hiking interest rates up to 15%. It destroyed the Tories' reputation for
competence in a stroke. The Clarke and Hewitt stories affect some people directly, but not everyone. And they erode Labour's image of competence, but they don't destroy it.

Nevertheless, this week's events do capture a mood - one of a government in a state of decay, no longer in control of events but buffeted by them. A resignation or reshuffle might dispel that mood for a while. But it won't go away - not until this government renews itself radically. And we all know what that will take.