Beyond parody

When Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, the distinguished musical satirist Tom Lehrer decided that he could no longer perform. "It was at that moment that satire died," said Lehrer, "There was nothing more to say after that."

The news that the twice disgraced Peter Mandelson will be awarded with a seat in the House of Lords so as to enable him to return to the Labour cabinet was believable, disgusting but believable. But the news today that "Gordon Brown plans to bring David Blunkett back into the Cabinet" is beyond belief. David Blunkett, the man who like Peter Mandelson had to resign twice; first as Home Secretary in 2004 over claims that he used his office to speed up a visa for the nanny of his lover, Kimberly Quinn and second in 2005 as Work and Pensions Secretary when he admitted he had breached the ministerial code by not getting clearance for three posts he took on after leaving the Cabinet. Blunkett sounds like just the man to bring a sheen of honesty and competence to this Labour government and he would be happy to bring in absolutely any population surveillance measures deemed necessary for the defence of the Labour government country, this would be right his authoritarian street.

Blunkett and Mandelson! Who next? Neil Kinnock, Robin Cook? Gordon Brown has already re-appointed Maagaret Beckett, so Robin Cook is not as long a shot as you might first think.