Tony Blair's reshuffle

Tony Blair has reshuffled his cabinet after the local elections after labour were pushed into third place.

He plans to hang on for a while longer by the look of it.

Jack Straw had said military action against Iran was unthinkable - and by saying that reduced the pressure on the Iranian regime - and so made military action more likely. He had to go.

The hapless Charles Clarke also had to walk the plank.

But now John Reid and David Miliband have both been given high profile cabinet posts and they will both be in a position to challenge the dour Gordon Brown for the leadership in a couple of years.

If Brown wants to take over he had better organize a coup fairly quickly. Let's see if he has the courage to do this or whethe the will keep grumbling to his friends and to the press.