Ministers count the cost of a Libyan farce
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The bloody end to Colonel Gaddafi's rule in Libya appears to be near. It is the kind of move towards democracy in the Middle East that we should support unequivocally, as indeed the Prime Minister has. Nevertheless, Libya will also bring home to ministers in government for the first time the power of external events to damage their credibility.
Britain's rescue effort is widely being described as a farce, leading both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to issue apologies today. A Royal Navy frigate is still waiting for permission to dock - yet the Turkish and US governments have already evacuated citizens by ferry. Today RAF and Foreign Office-chartered aircraft have finally picked up Britons in Libya - yet the French and Dutch air forces have already rescued their citizens.
The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has not improved matters with his use of a phrase worthy of Yes, Minister, saying that the delays could be down to "a coincidental series of unavoidable setbacks". But at least he cancelled a planned trip to Washington in order to get a grip on the situation. The Prime Minister is still in the Middle East: it is not clear who is in charge. Such a perceived lack of leadership does governments no good.
The bigger medium-term worry for ministers is what the Libyan revolution will do to oil prices and thus to the economic recovery. The price of Brent Crude hit nearly $120 a barrel early today. The predicted shutdown of Libyan oil supplies in the short term, combined with continued protests and tension in the Gulf, is likely to keep prices high. That is bound to feed through to our economy and will further fuel inflation.
Harold Macmillan once told a journalist that what was most likely to blow a government off course was simply "events, dear boy, events". Mr Cameron will be praying that events in Libya do not do so.
Police numbers game
Today's meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority comes during a bad-tempered row over police numbers in the capital. The Mayor announced earlier this month that he would fund a total of 537 extra police officers on London Transport and in schools, and that the total number at the end of his term of office next year would be greater than when he took power in 2008. His opponents counter that police numbers are in fact falling from a peak in 2009: the Met plans a net loss of 1,291 officers by 2014 against the strength it had planned for this financial year.
In fact, police numbers are always contentious. There is a big difference between planned and actual figures: already, a Met hiring freeze has reduced numbers. Extra money the Mayor has transferred from reserves will help fund officers in addition to numbers originally planned, even if it is hard to be certain about the exact eventual figures. Moreover, it seems almost certain that there will be more officers by next spring than the 31,398 in post in May 2008. Mr Johnson will thus have kept his election pledge. That will not prevent policing from being a major battleground in next year's contest, despite falling crime. Ken Livingstone underestimated crime's importance last time around; he is unlikely to make that mistake again.
Boyle's monster
Danny Boyle's new production of Frankenstein at the National has delighted audiences with its spectacular staging. It makes Mr Boyle look a good choice as director of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony: we look forward to a monster celebration.