The last seven days have provided spectacular verification of that old Wilsonian chestnut about a week being a long time in politics. We've witnessed extraordinary plots, we've lost count of the ministers who walked and we've seen Labour plunge to its lowest level of support since the first world war. Oh, and last but not least, it transpired on Monday that the prime minister was going to survive.
As we try to make sense of it all, wise old bird Michael White said he always thought Brown would make it, citing the lack of a credible alternative. Julian Glover thinks the plotters suffered from a failure of nerve, and despairs at Brown carrying on as if nothing had changed – talking about investment versus cuts again yesterday. Julian reckons it's cuts versus cuts – with pain to come, whoever wins the election. Madeleine Bunting, meanwhile, asks what exactly has gone so wrong with social policy and regeneration that despairing voters in the north have voted in the BNP.
