Brighton is best forgotten

So, what will be remembered as Labour leave Brighton?  Will it be Mandy’s self-indulgent speech.?  Will be Brown’s missed opportunity?  No, of course not.  What will stick will be Murdoch's decision to blow the whistle.

There is no question that it was brilliantly executed, after much spade work by Cameron and Co.  No wonder Mandy was so annoyed, having been left by his mates on the good ship Labour without a paddle.  It easy to see why Mandy has been so keen to target George Osborne.

Because of Murdoch's rude intervention, the immediate unravelling of a Brown speech failed to happen in the way it usually does, but it will. Here is a taster on hospital car parks from transport commentator, Christian Woolmer:

It will be difficult to carry out this promise since many hospitals built under PFI schemes have incorporated that income into the contracts and therefore trusts may find that they have to provide hefty sums to buy themselves out of the deal.

And Tom Harris, presumably reflecting the views of others, is not that happy about electoral reform.

After Brown sat down and The Sun was delivered there wasn't much, except a rather good speech from David Miliband this morning that has upset the Tories.  For once, Brown appeared to be enjoying himself.

When all is said and done, this week didn't change the political whether, the voters views on Brown haven't altered and there was little to worry Cameron.  That has been the failing of the week.

Nothing is resolved about the leadership and it won’t be until we get those definitive post-conference polls and MPs return to Westminster.  Before all that, the Irish will vote and then Messrs Cameron and Osborne will move onto the stage and perform ‘Operation Seal the Deal’.

Perhaps this rather flat Labour conference is best summed up by Michael Crick:

Most people left yesterday or even earlier in the week. At 6pm last night there were only two people in the bar of the Old Ship, which is usually a bustling hotel during a Labour conference.

Party officials are today denying that they have been shipping in party activists to fill the empty seats in the hall.

It would be too difficult to get last-minute security clearance, they say, and process their conference passes.

However several local activists have told me that last week party officials were phoning individual party members at home and urging them to come to Brighton today, and offering them free admission.

This would have given the party enough time to get secure clearance and credentials processed.

If the will fight has gone, then the show is over.  There is very little that Brown, Mandy or Alan Johnson can do about that 7 months out from the election.  In truth, the best that Labour can hope is for Cameron to drop that Ming vase that Blair so successfully held on to over 10 years ago.

Then there those unknown unknowns, as was proved this week.  Maybe we get one next week.  After all, Mandy will not be sitting around waiting for things to happen after the unwelcome arrival this week of The Sun, which did rather spoil his cunning plan.