I have had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others...

Since a certain someone has failed to post about Prime Minister's Questions, it has fallen to me to plug last Wednesday's 'episode' of this ongoing saga, availabe in a variety of file formats here. Aside from being the first Question Time since Parliament's holiday recess, this is a pretty ordinary day out for Blair, Cameron, and company, at least until a wonderfully hilarious incident ten minutes in.

It's something that has to be seen to be fully appreciated--trust me, just watch it--but here's a brief political background: Sir Menzies Campbell is the interim leader of the Liberal Democrats, Britain's third-largest political party (Charles Kennedy, their former leader, having been deposed a couple weeks ago), and as such gets to ask two questions of the prime minister during Question Time. The Liberal Democrats are in the midst of a chaotic leadership election, with I think four or five candidates announced already. This is why, when Menzies Campbell asks why "one in five schools do not have a permanent head teacher," the Labour and Tory backbenchers point and laugh at him, and the prime minister proceeds to openly mock the Liberal Democrats for the remainder of Question Time. Heartless Lib Dem–bashing is one of Blair's favorite Wednesday pastimes, but here he is at his most ruthless. And of course, my favorite 'character,' Chancellor Gordon Brown, is sitting on the Labour front bench smirking and pointing.