Listening to the news. Jacqui Smith gone. Hazel Blears gone. To live through and witness the end of the old order is a sombre experience – a necessary experience – but a sombre and sobering one.
As the government of this country goes into free fall – the shameful secrets of the establishment unmasked – the flawed character of a Prime Minister who doesn’t understand leadership in a modern age – the calculated death by a thousand knives as they plunge into Gordon Brown today – each one landing another death blow – as cabinet ministers murder the man who put them where they are. Et tu brute?
So – just coming up to PMQs. Cannot imagine at a human level how you get up and go out there to fight your corner when the pressure is so immense it must be hard even to breathe. Quite how Gordon Brown will be able to form a new administration as all these blows rain in, I don’t know. He should accept the inevitable and resign. Given his character he may not. But if he cannot form an administration – it might not be out of character for him to go to the Palace next week and let loose the dogs of war.
I never knew it would be like this.
Lynne Featherstone 
Hello Lynne,Quick question. My husband and I have both had several letters from you re the Elections on 4th July.I would like to know why when the letters are printed you waste or pay someone to hand write all the envelope addresses. Surely this is a massive waste of time money and effort better put to more important things – even the cheapest printer can cope with printing out a whole load of address on envelopes whilst you or your employees get on with other work.Seems a bit 'age of the ark' to me. You may have a reason that I have not thought of – please let me know. Thankyou. Brigitte Herrod
Brigitte – thank you for your comment. The letter is hand-written by me and then printed. The envelopes, as you have noticed, are hand-written individually – not by employees but by volunteers who want to help in the election and enjoy being involved in this way.It is a particularly good way of 'joining' in as I take the unwritten envelopes to people in their own home and it is a task that a lot of older people or people who can't get out like to undertake. The handwritten envelope is particularly important because I want people to read that last message from me during an election.I love it when I get a handwritten envelope – it makes me want to read it in a way that a printed label never could – because such effort goes into it. That's what makes it personal – even on the scale that we have to do it. So thank you for asking. I believe it says something about the care and importance we attach to that last message of the campaign before polling day.