Iain Dale has reminded me of the moment when Margaret Thatcher tormented the inept leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock (the man from whom Joe Biden stole his lines) for cowardice, calling him “Frit!”, a dialect word for frightened. Gordon Brown now looks frit. His decision to call off any British election has weakened his position tremendously. He has reinvigorated the Conservatives by inept spinning and maneuvering. Tony Blair must be turning in his political grave right now.

If Brown had called the election two weeks ago, he could have destroyed both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Instead, he allowed David Cameron to show that he is a political equivalent of John Elway. With a worsening economic climate round the corner and a Lazarus-like opposition party, Brown will almost certainly lose the next election. I couldn’t have imagined typing that two weeks ago. History’s judgment of the collapse of Gordon Brown’s leadership will probably concentrate on his cowardice and indecision over the past two weeks.