A quick one this: It’s pretty obvious that this next Government needs to do some pretty brutal things in order to get the public books back into some semblance of sanity. The Tories, of course, needed to ‘decontaminate’ their brand because of the hatred they inspired in so many the last time they engaged in a similar exercise with the public finances. Do they really want to come back into power after 13 years away to deliver the sort of ‘savage’ cuts necessary?

I suspect they don’t. A Coalition Government gives the impression that they’re acting in the national interest, not party interest. “If it’s okay by the Lib Dems, it can’t be that bad, can it? It must be necessary, right?”

We’ll see if the Lib Dems make a big enough crowd for the Tories to hide safely in.

Tom’s very depressing day…

It’s reported that “Labour” is offering the LibDems an immediate Bill to ditch FPTP in favour of AV and a referendum on further change afterwards. This cannot be delivered; Labour MPs will not support it. I do hope some senior LibDems are reading this.

I once witnessed the spectacle of a dog being offered a walk and food at the same time. It ran in circles, terrified of losing the walk if he went for the food, and terrified of losing the food if it went for the walk.

I woke up this morning with this image in my head and had it on Twitter before I was even out of bed. I really need to stop taking my laptop into the bedroom.

A proper review of Four Lions is going to have to wait, I’m afraid. Saw it last night and felt truly ashamed about what I was capable of laughing at. Sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with me – the true test of your character is whether or not you find yourself laughing uncontrollably at a suicide bomber with a carrier bag full of explosives tripping over a sheep, taking them both out. I failed. Badly.

Still, it’s only as the hours went by that it sunk in what this film really is: It’s Chris Morris winning the War on Terror, single handed. More soon. Tonight I’m off to see Flight of the Conchords, which I’d entirely forgotten about until today. Sadly I’m on driving duty though. Ah well.

No news on the politics front. They’re still talking, and speculation is getting wilder and wilder. My Comment Is Free piece is up now which will tide things over until we get something new to write about. Fun times!

One more thought on this, backed up by Guido and Alex Massie: If Cameron really won’t budge on electoral reform and ends up not being Prime Minister as a result (and then having to endure referendums on PR and Scottish Independence anyway) he may well go down in history as the Conservatives thickest leader in history.

Nick and Dave: DO THE DEAL!