There are 723 days remaining until the last possible day on which the next general election could be held. That's just less than two years. There's a stolid feeling in the air, oddly reminiscent of 1995, the stench of defeat looms, resignation and depression reign supreme. However, unlike 1995, the election has not been lost yet, a fourth term is not beyond our reach, as long as we act now. The clock is ticking, and as the seconds go by, the time to save the party from Opposition and the nation from years of Tory incompetence is fading away.It is to that end that the Party requires a programme of reinvgoration, a reassertion of its principles,  and I'm sorry to say it, but a change in leadership.

My interview with David Miliband (sceduled for 11.30 last Saturday) was 'bumped' due the PM's speech and QA session over-running. His office have agreed to re-arrange.

Miliband has made it clear today that he is NOT going to stand for the leadership. Were some Labour bloggers trying to do the Tories' work for them? Their apparent obsession with attempting to get David Miliband to stand as the ABB (Anybody But Brown) candidate - backed by some disaffected, disengaged and disillusioned Blairites - was folly. Why? Because therein lies defeat, political oblivion and a split party.

Gordon Brown is going to succeed Blair - we know this and the Tories know this. The consequence of this political reality (as Will Hutton points out in today's Guardian) is that Brown has become the object of a massive vilification campaign by the Tories and the right-wing press.