All Change - apparently - @ No 10

Bad night last night! There was the scratching sound of rats' feet scuttling along the stone patio by the rose garden! There must have been a tea party there in the afternoon. No - not the Sarah Palin sort of tea party! Just a good old-fashioned English tea party with scones, cream and strawberry jam. Of course, that meant crumbs - and what do crumbs mean? Yes - rats!

Strange how it mirrors the political life here at No 10. Crumbs are all Wailing Lad Clegg will be getting, from now on! That's if he's lucky! Before, he had the full cream tea, so to speak. Lashings of sweet promises from the mouths of Boy David, Georgy from No 11 and from old IDS himself. Danny Alexander, the wunderkind PR lad from bonny Scotland, was showered with praise and told 'what a clever boy you are'. he certainly had honey for his tea!

Ah! Those were the days! But they're gone now! No more Mr Nice Guy from Boy David or Georgy. They have the proverbial whip-hand now! Someone, I think it was David Davies or Andrew Rawnsley, maybe it was Rawnsley himself, said that the LibDems were sitting in the best seats on the plane but they didn't have a parachute. So why on earth would they want to end the Coalition? The Tories have it made.

Since, as you know, I've never been in a plane, let alone had a parachute, the analogy was lost on me, at first. Arturo, he who knows all, explained it to me and I saw the point.

The LibDems, under Wailing Lad Clegg, know that the next election spells the end for them - as a party and individual MPs. So, hey boys, why not enjoy it while the Coalition is still intact. A few appropriate frowns here and there; a strangled cry of pain once in a while; even the odd victory in the House - these will be the future for those LibDems who are in Ministerial jobs. And why not? Do I hear you ask? Enjoy it while you've got it and to hell with the rank and file.

After all, nearly everyone in high office, in this government, is an ex-PR man (sorry person) and a PR person may not know much but he/she does know where his/her bread is buttered.

So - there will be more tea-parties in the lovely No 10 rose garden - but things won't ever be quite the same as they were before last week!