The Axis of Ineptitude

Congratulations, Obama.

In 2 months or so, one half of the axis of ineptitude - George Bush - will be gone for good. His administration will be swept away by the tidal wave that is Barack Obama. With that, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Let us not forget, however, that the other half of this axis - the Brown half - is still in office, and intends to cling on as long as possible. If we are lucky, Labour will depose him in a leadership election in 2009. If we are not, we will have to wait until the middle of 2010 before he is removed.

Change is definitely in the air. Speak to people on the street, even in safe Labour seats, and you realise there is no mood for continuity. Brown represents that continuity; the failed policies, the old dogma, the inability of an administration to admit to its own mistakes by putting them right. The Labour Party needs to wake up and smell the coffee, or it risks losing by a landslide when the UK electorate finally gets its say on the decade of debt, the invasion of Iraq, and other failures of the past.

Until Brown goes, one half of the axis of ineptitude remains in place.