Hand me the razor blades – Brown’s still Prime Minister. It means, on the one hand, I win the £10 I bet against Mark Thompson who thought Brown would be gone before the end of June. Mark pays his gambling debts, if anyone’s interested

At the time I thought this bet was a win-win for me – if Brown went then, hell, Brown went! If Brown stayed, woo, £10 for me.

Yet, on this particular occasion, having my own particular impression of Brown’s psychology validated like this isn’t something to be celebrated. It doesn’t feel like win-win. It feels like we’ve both lost, except in addition to Mark losing I’ve kicked him in the nuts and stolen his wallet.

It seems that Brown, above all else, values being Prime Minister. Nothing else matters. That’s what I bet. I wish I was wrong.

He cannot be forced out of the job by his party without the party political equivalent of mass suicide, and he won’t go of his own free will. Ho hum – great news if you’re a Tory. Hell for everyone else.

Barnacle Brown will never step down.