The Forces of Hell!

So, it turns out that Gordon Brown was nasty to Alistair Darling. I particularly like the hyperbole of "unleashing the forces of hell" - it speaks volumes about the privileged position of Mr Darling that getting a weekend of negative press is on a par with hell. God knows how he will cope when he (hopefully) loses his job at the next election. That will probably be hell... x1000!

The notion that Brown bullied his Chancellor can surely not be news to anyone right now. But what really strikes me is how strongly Brown's cowardice comes through in this story. He unleashed the forces of hell on the Chancellor, strongly implying that a lot of his concerted campaign to undermine Darling was delegated to others. Then he didn't follow through with his bullying - Darling kept his job. It makes Brown's actions even more pathetic. He comes across as a frustrated man venting said frustrations on his colleague. Nothing quite so dramatic as the forces of hell, but rather just a boss from hell.

And there is a certain genius to Darling's comment - it ensures his job is secure for a while yet. Brown the coward will not dare to remove Darling, for fear that it confirms what we all already know - that Brown is a bully. Which is ironic since Darling should arguably be sacked now given the amount of embarrassment he has just caused Brown at a time when Brown is floundering anyway...