A LONG WEEK

AS recently as Tuesday in this space I wrote that David Cameron seemed to be “in control and enjoying the job”. Which only goes to show once more how right Harold Wilson was when he observed that “a week is a long time in politics”. Make that “a day or two”. Just when the Prime Minister and his party need to be at their most confident in anticipation of George Osborne's comprehensive spending cuts announcement next Wednesday, things are suddenly off track. Last week in a speech about the economy the Prime Minister said that Britain was “out of the danger zone”. Yesterday the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke contradicted him by saying “We are not out of the woods yet.” Mr Clarke was addressing Prison Governors in his role as Justice Minister and warning them that they would not get the investment in prisons they wanted. Mr Cameron's spin doctors may try to find a difference between his “danger zone” and Mr Clarke's “woods” but it will be difficult to ignore Ken Clarke's view at this moment.

Continuing criticism about last week's children's allowance policy change and Liberal Democrat unease over Lord Browne's proposals to double university tuition are further worries for the Prime Minister but the biggest setback of the week was the ease with which Ed Miliband got the better of him at Prime Minister's Questions. No one expected this but it was there for everyone to see.