The big day has come and gone, and Gordon Brown must surely be shambling around, confused and bewildered, senses reeling with the bold unfamilar shock of a strange new feeling. It's called success, Gordon. But something tells Westmonster you'd better not get too attached to it. Why not? Because -… read more…

28 days or 42? That's the big question, isn't it? Just how long has Gordon Brown got left in office? Ah, we're just being cruel. Maybe Gord is actually learning lessons from his disastrous reign as Prime Minister so far. He does seem to have become a more communicative… read more…

The sound coming from our brave police force? It's an unhappy one. Their "trust, morale and goodwill" are all going downhill. The strike ballot's happening today. Labour ministers think Jacqui Smith's a right meanie. There's also the possibility that local council leaders could gain the power to sack police commanders.… read more…

Jacqui Smith is appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee today, and it looks like she has two über-fun topics to chat about:So, why 42? It's something Westmonster and many others have wondered, not least the copyright holders of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, as well as the chief… read more…

Jacqui Smith has announced that the pre-charge detention period for terrorism suspects is to be raised to 78, no, 56 ... er, doesn't sound quite right, no wait - 42 days. Definitely 42 is the number the Home Office is going for. Sound. Fraser Nelson asks the question: why the… read more…

Boulton & Co. reports on a possible climbdown on the part of the Government on the extension of 28-day detention. This is because the Home Office realised that Satan would be going to work in a snow plough before that one was nodded through on the quiet by Parliament the Gord heads… read more…

BONG! The Saga of the Missing CDs continues apace with no real update as to the situation (other than "it still looks pretty damn bad for the Government"), so here's the take from our American cousins for the sake of variety/not repeating ourselves. BONG! Davy Cameron calls for a halt on… read more…

BONG! Trouble up t'whips' office it would appear, as the Gord is warned he faces a Parliamentary battle over the proposed increase in the maximum limit on detention. BONG! Theo Blackwell's found Ken's new site, and examines Bojo's recent campaigning activities. BONG! What makes you blind? The Duchess of York has warned… read more…

Was that a tremor in the Force? This morning Big Tent member Admiral Lord West (whose report on security in busy public locations is published later) gave an interview to the Today programme in which he appeared to merrily deviate from the Government line on the extension of 28-day detention.… read more…

Although the Queen will be delivering her speech in a slightly posher accent than the bloke who wrote it, many have been pointing out that the contents will probably sound remarkably similar. In July the Gord gave his pre-Queen's Speech to the assembled Chamber in which he outlined many of his… read more…

BONG! Ken weighs in on the pay-as-you-go rubbish policy and is all, "it's rubbish!" BONG! Queen's Speech tomorrow folks, and the Guardian has this summary of expected announcements. BONG! On the subject of Her Maj, the Telegraph (who else?) has another of their cracking headlines: "Windsor Foot and Mouth relief… read more…

MI5 say that  "thousands pose UK terror threat," and at the same time the Government announce they're thinking about extending the 28 day detention period to 47, no wait ... one hundred ... nah, that's too many - tell you what, how about 56 days? We all good with that? Cool.… read more…

In response to the Enoch-stylings of one time PPC Nigel Hastilow, Olly's Onions suggests that the Tories take advantage of the publicity and launch a poster campaign ... Fair Deal Phil has a look at what all this says about the real impact of Dave's shiny, shiny hair on… read more…