[Insert pun involving the word 'Darling' here]

Well, what to make of AD's interview in the Guardian? There's fascinating material there for Kremlinologists. He agrees that he's unusually unknown as a politician, because "For most of my political life I've kept out of doing this kind of interview". Hmm. He clearly thinks that now, when everything really is as tits-up for a Chancellor as it possibly could be, is the time to start doing such interviews. Apart from the whole "Yup, everything really is completely screwed" part of the story, the other interesting bit is the firmness with which he says that there will not be a reshuffle in the autumn. Is he so worried about his position that he's trying some pre-emptive defensive measure? I'm reminded of the terrible, terrible Margaret Beckett at the FCO, when it was clear that one of the last of Blair's reshuffles was coming (perhaps the last?) and that she would be going, making some toe-curling speech in which she said that she wasn't going anywhere. She was sacked a week or two later. Yuk yuk.