The cruel spectacle of Brown at bay

The Tories never liked Tony Blair, except in secret. They yelled at him, they resented his electoral success, they thought he was a charlatan, and they were outraged by his endless lists of non-existent triumphs. But they rarely laughed at him. They laugh at Gordon Brown. Sometimes the house is like a medieval village green where cruel boys throw insults and fruit at the local idiot, who shouts back and waves his arms like a broken windmill.