ePolitix.com - Week on the web

The political week started in Basra and ended in Brussels, both flying visits for Gordon Brown.

The former was so quick in fact that Sky's Glen O'Glaza revealed on the Boulton and Co blog (in a much linked to post) that journalists were left with little time to file their stories. There is "not much point in a photo-op without being able to send back photos", Guido noted.

Meanwhile Mark Mardell was blogging from the EU Council for the BBC, claiming that it is "likely to be the shortest EU summit on record". "Diplomats say it is a good symbol of an EU that has agreed its last tinkering with institutions for a while and is getting down to business that matters to people of Europe," he adds. "I wonder. While the major topic open for discussion, Kosovo, is of vital importance, the other main item on the agenda is a classic piece of Euro-waffle with fudge topping."

Sandwiched between the trips, it's been another busy pre-Christmas week for the prime minister (Afghanistan on Monday, children's plan on Tuesday, PMQs on Wednesday, liaison committee and - eventually - Lisbon on Thursday).

But at Comment is Free, Martin Kettle claimed he is trying too hard to re-start his faltering administration: "Brown evidently pictures himself as a political Santa Claus - reaching into his sack with a ho-ho-ho to produce tough anti-terror powers for the Daily Mail, troops home for Christmas for the Sun, wind farms for the Independent, and an end to global poverty for the Guardian... They don't seem to have noticed that grown-ups don't believe in Santa Claus."

Over at Conservativehome Theresa May was equally scathing of his six months at the helm, claiming Brown has fulfilled all the worst expectations of him.

One particular point of criticism this week has been his late arrival in Lisbon to sign the EU reform treaty, missing the official ceremony and "family photo". No less a pundit than Politicalbetting's Mike Smithson wondered whether this was "the moment Gord lost the next election".

Less seriously, Ben Brogan suggested his culture minister could simply have photo-shopped the picture.

Another issue giving Brown some grief has been the dispute with the Police Federation over officers' pay, prompting Recess Monkey to ask whether if they do go on strike, "who will the government pay to beat them up on the picket lines?"

Alongside this flurry of activity, Rob Hutton of Bloomberg has also compiled the definitive list of government reviews under Brown, as spotted by Michael White.

Meanwhile the widely hailed Vince Cable took his bow at PMQs with another gag at Brown's expense. With a new Lib Dem leader being elected next week, the acting chief will have more time to concentrate on his ballroom dancing, as documented on Guy News here.

Elsewhere the political blogosphere kept on growing with the launch of Katy Taylor-Richards' Westminster Whirlwind on the Express' site.

In Media Guardian on Monday, Matthew D'Ancona examined the phenomenon and the fact that it is dominated by right-wing sites in the UK and the left in the US. Is it an oppositional medium and can conservative blogs survive a Cameron government, his colleague James Forsyth asked at the Spectator's Coffee House. Perhaps the fact that he is confident of a Cameron government at all is a sign of the times.

Anyway, if Brown wants a bit of cheering up he could do worse than take a peek at the one and only reason Iain Dale is considering voting Labour.

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