Skipper

I was a little surprised at the Guardian yesterday attributing so much skill to Jack Straw's statement on the constitution. All he said was that, despite the negative referendums in France and Holland, Britain did not see it as a completely dead political project. Apparently this assuaged the feelings of those who might have suspected that Britain had actually favoured such an outcome.
This might have helped raise shares in Straw's possible post-Blair leadership competition but I somehow doubt such an obvious ploy will do him that much good. Now I fly to Europe for a week's holiday. Back on 15th June.