Groundhog Day

Ever see Groundhog Day? That's the movie in which Bill Murray keeps waking up and finding it's the same day as yesterday. It's a comedy.

That's the way Alistair Darling must feel. Only, in his case, it's not a comedy.

Yesterday, Alistair came to the Commons and fessed up to the Northern Rock disaster. He got a good kicking. Today, he came to the Commons and fessed up to the HMRC disaster. He explained that the personal details – NI numbers, addresses, dates of birth – of virtually every family in the country had got lost in the post. He got a good kicking again.

I almost felt sorry for Alistair. But not quite. He deserved the kicking, but Gordon deserved it even more. He was, after all, in charge of the Treasury for more than ten years.

In Portcullis House, I bumped into a lobby journalist, a man who's seen it all, twice over.

“Imploding,” he said. “The government's imploding. It's just like Major. They won't see this Parliament through.”

I nodded in agreement, but uncertainly. I do think they are imploding. But I remember that the Major government lasted a full five years.