Dealing with Alan Johnson...

A thought springs to mind regarding the prospective reshuffle.  If Mandelson really is going to go to the FO, that leaves a vacancy at Business.  A vacancy that would bring the occupant into direct confrontation with one of the most effective performers in the House of Commons, Ken Clarke.

What better way for Gordon Brown to clip Alan Johnson’s wings than to move him there?  It can be dressed up as a promotion, but actually serve as a reminder to the Labour Party that he isn’t the messiah, but merely an averagely good minister in an awful Government.