Is Brown now safe in job of PM?

First week back at Westminster and MPs could be forgiven for taking a minute or two to check their bearings because, in the last few days, the political landscape has been completely transformed. The Conservatives picked up on the photo of David Miliband holding a banana Three weeks ago, the prime minister's political lifespan was being measured in days, not years. David Miliband was not just the heir apparent, but the Only Man Who Could Save Labour. Then Gordon had a good conference and David slipped on a photographic banana skin. Being lampooned in the papers when your star is supposed to be in the ascendancy does not bode well for a future leader of men. Now we have had The Reshuffle. And the return of Peter Mandelson. Millions of words have been written about whether this is a stroke of genius or madness, but it... [read full story]