Well done England

I must admit I had my doubts about Steve McLaren. He came over as a bit of a yes-man during the Eriksson era and I don't really think his "achievements" in the domestic game quite merited such a promotion, although he was very good at Derby during the Jim Smith era.

Furthermore, I think the decision to appoint a new manager before, rather than after the World Cup risked all sorts of problems in the event of a poor performance by Sven's Men.

So last night's 4-0 win against Greece was very refreshing to see, in particular the new sense of dynamism in the midfield area and the way Terry and Ferdinand were encouraged to bring the ball out of defence.

With Rooney yet to return from suspension, and the prospect of a fit-again Owen in the team, it is suddenly exciting to be an England fan again.

John Reid: The backlash begins...

Every Labour politician who has ever been spoken about as a potential alternative leader to Gordon Brown has eventually suffered a media backlash, and it is already clear that John Reid will be no exception.

Today's piece by Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail is fairly typical of the kind of thing we can expect as the prospect of a bloody battle over the corpse of New Labour grows ever closer.

"One wonders why Mr Blair's assumed heir apparent Gordon Brown, who is on paternity leave, did not think it right to return to London to restore order. Perhaps he has taken the view that, far from improving his chances of becoming the next Prime Minister, Dr Reid has, in fact, dramatically reduced them.

"For the spectacle of this sinister old Marxist seizing control is enough to make most of us feel like taking to the hills. It should also persuade Labour MPs that this rather scary figure is unlikely ever to work his way into the affections of Middle England."

The change of mood was also reflected in a piece on Political Betting.com which last Friday was reporting a sharp tightening of Reid's leadership odds in the wake of his performance over the terror raids.

Today, however, Mike Smithson was posing the question whether some of Reid's past indiscretions might catch up with him, including an occasion on which he called the pictured Jeremy Paxman a West London Wanker.

My own view on the matter has not altered since I penned last week's Saturday Column. In an ideal world, Reid would be the first choice of very few Labour MPs or party members and I do not currently expect him to beat Mr Brown in a straight contest.

But if the party's poll ratings were to plummet and Reid's public approval ratings consistently topped those of the Chancellor, they might, repeat might just have to bite the bullet and elect him.

Update: I somehow neglected to include this excellent post from Iain Dale depicting Roy Hattersley's likely reaction if Reid becomes Prime Minister.

The Lardy one apparently told Scottish radio listeners that he would SHOOT himself if the Home Sec got the job, though sadly no link to the original story appears to exist.

Blog changes

I've been making a few changes to the contents panel today, mainly with the aim of improving the signposting and adding some deserving new links.

The biggest change is the subdivision of the "Best of the Blogosphere" category, which was becoming rather long, back into six broad political categories: Non-aligned, Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, Anti-Blair and Anglosphere. If anyone thinks I've miscategorised them, please email me and I'll change it.

Anyway this gives me the opportunity to introduce a few more links to sites that I rate including:

* Tory Radio, Jonathan Shepherd's increasingly influential podcasting site;
* The Nether World, David Simonetti's latest solo offering;
* Mike Ion, one of the more sensible voices in the Labour blogosphere;
* Craig Murray, who has something to say even if you don't agree with it;
* And finally, the hilarious Hitler Cats which needs no further introduction.

I've also put in a permanent link to the 7/7 Bombings Inquiry Petition, in the hope of encouraging more visitors to sign it.

Some fellow bloggers have suggested I dispense with Blogger and purchase myself a spanking new bespoke website as Iain Dale did earlier this year, but I must say I'm in two minds.

I really like the simplicity and "cleanness" of the Blogger template, and it also seems to load on the page a damned site more quickly than some other blogs I could mention. I would welcome views on this however.

Finally, thanks to everyone who continues to visit the blog and to make it worth my while.

Visitor numbers aren't yet in the Guido/Iain Dale league, well not by a long chalk, but I am pleased to say that they have very nearly doubled over the past month and at the current rate of progress I should be challenging Guido by about September 2013! Not that it's a competition of course.....

Could Hague lead the Tories again?

It usually takes me a few days to plough through the Sunday papers, so it wasn't until I was on the bus this morning that I came across Isobel Oakeshott's
big interview with William Hague in this weekend's Sunday Times.

Hague is quoted as saying he would never, ever wish to lead the Tory Party again, saying that his period in charge gave him the "self knowledge" to realise someone else could do it better.

“I’ve got that all out of my system. Totally,” he says. “I’m glad I was the leader but I’m glad I stopped. I’d had enough. I thought someone else would turn out to be more effective than me and that’s very much the case. I’m a fan of DC and I enjoy working with him, and I’ve only come back to help him win the next election. I don’t ever want to be leader again myself. I could happily write books instead. I enjoy that at least as much as politics.”

“No sane human being who’s done it before would want to do it again. You have to have self-knowledge, in any job. I came to the conclusion that someone else should be doing it.”

There is something that rings true about this. In my dealings with Hague, notably when he was at the Welsh Office and I was on the South Wales Echo, I generally found him to be very straight. And that is not a sexual pun, by the way.

Nevertheless, I think there's a difference between actively seeking high office, and not refusing it when it's handed to you on a plate. Or as the old saying puts it: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

The Tories would never again entrust Hague with the task of returning them to power. But I can foresee a situation where, once in power, they might turn to him, as Foreign Secretary and the nearest thing they have to an elder statesman, to hold things together in some future, currently unforeseen crisis.

Would he say no in those circumstances? I doubt it. He is a politician after all.