Cue the jokes.

The kids are off. MPs are off. Gordon is on holiday and Harriet's 'minding the shop'. Mandy's on the roam and Cameron's being a twat, on twitter of course. (Radio 4's The Now Show has an awesome take on twitter-gate, highly recommended!)

Yeap, it's silly season alright.

But before turning to the take on Mandy's surge for power or Harriet Harperson's latest ramblings, I'd like to point towards one of Skipper's excellent posts. Briefly paraphrasing, Oxford's Professor Vernon Bogdanor puts forward the view that, since 1997, Britain has undergone whole-sale constitutional reform effectively turning Britain into a quasi federal state. Personally, I can see a great deal of merit in this argument, something which seems an increasingly important factor ahead of the impending general election.

Anyway, well worth a read and something I'd recommend.

From the serious to the stupid now. Harriet Harman's seized the opportunity of setting up her tent in Downing St. this week. Gordon has popped off and we seemingly face a problem: who's now in charge. Analysing British Politics has a good take on these events. In essence though it seems a question of one thing: who'll lead Labour after Gordon has gone?

We've also seen more ministers take their own line this week. The Ministry of Defence has again faced charges of 'undercutting' service personnel and being driven by the wrong ambitions. This time by one of its own ministers, Eric Joyce. He coined current thinking as 'profoundly unfair', relating to the decision to appeal against compensation awards for injured personnel.

I see no reason why ministers can't take such a line, critiquing policy which obviously proves widely unpopular. Indeed, the decision to keep Joyce should be welcomed in an age of keeping ministers 'on message'. Of course recognizing the need for party unity (and thus ensuring the smooth running of government) I do share a great deal of empathy with ministers effectively forced to defend policies they themselves clearly object to.

And finally, staying with silly season, anyone remember those calls that the days of big bonuses should end? Someone ought to try telling this lot. Oh, wait...

Sorry for the rather short update. WiFi connection is a bit of a problem and am currently surrounded by boxes and bags. Hope you're all having a good summer so far.