42 Days - A pointless victory

I think Gordon Brown will win this vote. It will cost him a lot of money in Northern Ireland to buy the DUP vote (or abstention). He has had to resort to calling, threatening and pleading with backbenchers he has never spoken to before. The whips doing even more threatening. There has also been the media assault. But why. Why is 42 days so important to Brown. Infact where did the figure come from in the first place. I just don't get it. Does anyone. Why at a time when he continues to be in polling trouble does he wade into a fight in which he has the weak hand and did not need to get into in the first place.

In anycase he will win and a peice of legislation that is poorly drafted and pointless will come into law and cause confusion, resentment and much else besides.

He certainly does things the hard way (and the wrong way).

(If he loses he won't be forced from office not least because the Labour Party could not afford the election which would likely result).