Blunkett is gone, thank goodness. He was a man out of control, determined to sweep away our rights to privacy and our civil liberties. How deliciously just then, that he should be forced out of his job by details from his own private life raked up by the press and the numerous enemies he has so obviously made within the party. Even more so that his arrogance and abuse of his position is also the theme that has made his position untenable.
He was also the last of Blair's really heavyweight allies, and how he must now be shitting his pants. Gordon is coming for you Tony - come in number ten, your time is almost up.
Blunkett has been caught out and has tried to use Blair's tactic of setting up a pantomime of an "inquiry", like the total whitewashes that were Butler and the Kelly Report. The pair of them think they can do what they like with no accountability and this has gone on long enough. The public, the press and the rest of the labour party who have had to do as they are told and bite their lips, are fed up with decisions being made without any form of discussion or debate, and which when questioned have been "investigated" by a panel of people hand-picked by Blair (or in this case Blunkett) to find in their favour. At least we do not now have to listen to the farcical and obviously fixed outcome of Blunkett's own rigged inquiry, and we can breathe a sigh of relief that they will not at least get away with it this time.
Charles Clarke is another of Blair's close allies, and the jug-eared liability is taking over as Home Secretary, but I am hopeful that his will be one of the shortest stays in the job.
What of the Tories? - the total fucking waste of space that they are. Well they pose about as much of a threat to Labour as any non-league team might to say, Arsenal or Chelsea. Their lack of any ideas is both laughable and disappointing. Michael Howard only came out in support of Blunkett's ID card plans and also seems to agree with whatever Tony says. I am not sure what is more worrying - the lack of an oposition, or the fact that this absense may be the result of the fact that Tony Blair is really Tory Blair.
Blair's best bet now would be to use this, like he uses everything, as an opportunity to gain votes. He may now choose to be quick to distance himself from his former close ally, burying with him the whole national ID card proposal. I had money on this a while back, betting our Arts Editor that Blair would engineer Blunkett's downfall should the idea of ID cards begin to look decidedly unpopular.
For tonight though, civil rights groups, judges and the legal profession and anybody who has ever bothered to stop and look at what Blunkett has been doing during his time as Home Secretary can all raise a glass and enjoy the evening.