The End of Blair's Premiership.
Blair's attempt to regain his political authority, by carrying out a brutal reshuffle that punished anyone who was not in a permanent state of war with his Chancellor, appears to have failed.
It now transpires that Jane Kennedy, a Blair loyalist, was not sacked but actually resigned on a point of conscience following fears about the impact on children's hospitals of changes to NHS finances.
It is also being reported that Geoff Hoon (nick name at college - Buff) also threatened to resign when he was offered the post of Europe Minister. He only accepted, we are told, late yesterday.
The Chancellor is now expected to open discussions with the Prime Minister on how to recover from the crisis engulfing the government, talks thought to include the explosive issue of a handover of power. Despite insistence in Downing Street that conversations between the two are purely routine, it is understood Blair is prepared to discuss the transition in what will be seen as an attempt to calm rebel MPs, who have given Blair a week to publish a timetable for his departure.
'I think the discussions probably lead there, because if you are talking about the future of the party and a vision for Labour and the government that takes you over the period that covers transition,' said a source close to the Chancellor.'
Rebel MPs have finalised the text of a letter to be circulated among MPs for signing this week if the Prime Minister does not agree to name the day, calling for Labour's ruling body to step in and organise a transition. It warns that if a timetable is not forthcoming 'we therefore ask the NEC, in consultation with the Prime Minister, to lay out no later than the end of the current parliamentary session [this summer] a clear timetable and procedure.'
To add to the above it is being reported that friends of Jack Straw are criticising his "unjustified" demotion, saying that he is "perplexed" by what has occurred.
I can help clear this up for Jack. When he said invading Iran was "nuts" Blair went nuts, as he still hopes to keep a military option on the table.
Indeed, his hope to keep a military option regarding Iran on the table fits neatly into the overall picture of how far from his party Blair is now revealed to be.
Blair is continuing to behave as if it has not occurred to him that his time as PM is essentially over.
Any subsequent move he makes towards using a military solution to address the problem of Iran, will only increase the distance between Blair and his party's base, and accelerate the speed of his downfall.
Like Thatcher before him, it is the very qualities that Blair regards as his greatest strengths that will prove to be his final undoing.
Blair, like Thatcher, has always prided himself on dragging his party reluctantly to places where he feels they need to be, rather than where their natural political instincts would lead them.
The problem for Blair now, is that no-one is following.
We are about to witness the end of Blair's Premiership.
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