Cutting it close

I measure how close winter is by the amount of daylight we have when coming into Newcastle first thing on a Monday morning to catch the train to London. Well, it's 6am and it's completely dark. So winter is approaching fast. We are just pulling out of Newcastle now. And I should be in Cowley St by 10am.

I nearly didn't make it. We were five minutes down the road when I realised I'd left my datastick in the pc at home. There are 200MB of files on it I need (not the least of which are my entries for the regional campaigns awards). Too much to email even by broadband. So car was turned round, we headed back home to pick up the datastick and head back towards Newcastle.

It was a case of cutting it close. I just caught the train. I didn't want to leave it to the next train as I have a new intern starting in Cowley St today so I didn't want to be late.

It will be interesting to see Brown's speech today at the Labour jamboree. As the clear front runner to take over from Blair he has everything to lose though there is little politically that divides them. The difference is one of personality. But I can see why Blair will want to hold on for as long as he can. With more time for an alternative to come forward, Brown arguably could being to feel the heat. The problem for the Blairites is that there is no single credible alternative and the next generation of Blairites, having assumed a Brown succession, have already thrown in their lot with Brown, presumably as a cabinet job retention scheme. Milliband is a classic example. But I hear there are polls due out today showing Brown is losing ground. A long leadership campaign and a weakened Brown could be Blair's legacy. Perhaps we can then find Blair a slot on Songs of Praise after all! A grateful nation rejoices in the self destruction of the Blair-Brown government.

It is now 6.20am. Wake me up when we get to Kings Cross!

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