This was not what Mr Blair envisaged when he returned from his summer holidays last year, resolved to take on his Chancellor.Here are some fresh bits of information that demonstrate why the recent revival of Mr Brown changes everything. Contrary to reports, Mr Blair and Mr Brown have had no discussions over the Cabinet reshuffle. Mr Brown will not seek frantic last- minute talks with Mr Blair to secure ministerial appointments for “Brownites”. He is no longer interested in angrily fighting for one faction, with Mr Blair resisting or agreeing reluctantly. He has a different and grander ambition now.When Mr Brown was in a weaker position, he used to bully Mr Blair into delivering what he wanted. Until this debate is resolved, the Conservatives will continue to lose elections.For Labour, the sense of transition has been most vividly obvious and yet typically complex. The revival of the Blair/Brown relationship has been the most striking development of the entire campaign It changes everything in a way that is still underestimated.

Last autumn, Mr Brown was placed on the margins as Mr Blair declared that he planned to serve another full term with his close ally, Alan Milburn, by his side.In a dramatic twist, Mr Brown’s popularity and the strength of the economy brought him back to the centre of Labour’s campaign. Only five weeks ago, some were still speculating that Mr Blair would sack him as Chancellor. Will the Liberal Democrats support sweeping reforms of the public services or remain attached to more orthodox solutions? An almighty row was suppressed last autumn. It can start on Friday.For the second successive election, the Conservatives have put forward a programme that conveniently avoids the big arguments.

Until Thursday, they are in favour of higher public spending, tax cuts, and they support the war against Iraq on the unlawful grounds of regime change while condemning Tony Blair for going to war illegally.After the last two elections, the Tories were too depleted and demoralised to debate their future. On Friday, an important row will almost certainly erupt over whether they lost for being too right-wing or because they were not right-wing enough. But a party that relies on one issue will not flourish for long. Once the election is safely over, the party will have the chance to debate the radical proposals put forward by some of its more daring thinkers in the so-called Orange Book mistakenly launched at their pre-election conference last autumn. The doubts relate most explosively to the position of Tony Blair who is fighting his last election. But Labour’s leaders are not alone in wondering with a nervy intensity what will follow the voters’ verdict.
The Liberal Democrats have clung to their opposition to the war against Iraq as their most distinctive selling point. The three main political parties have fought this election campaign in a state of transition.

The carefully constructed programmes and the seemingly self- confident pitch of the leaders disguise an acute uncertainty about what will happen after the election. All those with a vested interest in the subject have to start asking themselves if they are part of the problem or part of the solution.d.orr independent.co.uk
More from Deborah Orr. I now believe this to be an extremely wrong-headed attitude.The situation is this; cannabis is widely used and is widely used by many generations of adults now. What people need most of all is for information on cannabis to be clear and uncontroversial The goal should be harm minimisation. Many of them are not being well served by a campaign for legalisation which prefers to remain suspicious of all research that does not fit in with an ideological rather than scientific goal. Nor are they terribly receptive to a right-wing campaign which is fixated on changing the law instead of changing people’s habits.On both sides of the debate, there has to be an acceptance that a “softly-softly” approach, just like Commander Paddick’s, is the happiest possible compromise.