Politics | 21 February 2009

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics

The worst thing about this week for Gordon Brown is that no one has bothered to dub it his worst week ever. Normally, a few days which saw a Prime Minister receive the succession of blows that Brown has suffered since Saturday would lead to forests being chopped down and extra barrels of newsprint being ordered in. But we have now reached a political moment where it can be revealed that the government is reduced to querying David Cameron’s name when it appears on Number 10 party guest lists, a key government policy adviser defects to the Tories, someone ‘quite close to the inner core’ (rumoured to be Harriet Harman) floats the idea that Brown will quit to go and head up a new international body, and the Tories open up a 20-point poll lead — and it is treated as business pretty much as usual.