You're a beautiful woman probably...

I voted Labour in the General Election and wanted another Labour government, in spite of its faults. However, I do feel strongly that it's now time for Gordon Brown to leave Downing Street and resign as leader of the Labour Party. It's clear that the Tories polled the most votes and for him to cling to power is just prolonging the uncertainty that is the last thing the country needs. Perhaps our best hope (although it's a slim one) is for the Tories to form a government with the LibDems which might last a year or so. That would give the time for Labour to regroup under a new leader and, hopefully, come back to power at the next election. Of course, anything could happen to the economy in the meantime but, if there's to be any hope of a real economic recovery, we obviously need a government that's as stable as possible soon.

Is it just me, or do things around the world (and particularly the UK) seem so much more uncertain in the past year or so? First there was the economy, with the spectacular failure of some financial institutions. The Labour government's "prudence" with the public purse suddenly looked like a complete illusion. Despite the fact that this is meant to be a global recession, for some reason the Pound has fallen to an unprecedented low against the Euro and looks weak even against the US Dollar. Then there was inflation, with certain items rocketing in price to an extent that doesn't tally at all with the official figures - some foods in my local supermarket have gone up by 20% or more in one jump, and margarine actually increased by 100% in a matter of months. We were assured that the leap in fuel prices was due to an increase in the cost to the suppliers but, while oil fell in price, we are still waiting for a reduction in domestic gas and electricity prices. Thi...