What a night

What a great night for the Tories. Vast progress at the expense of Labour and with the LDP going nowhere.

The other big theme seems to be the BNP and I fear that here we are in grave danger of becoming overly paranoid about a tiny, bizarre political movement which will only assist it. The BNP should not worry us overly but it should be, in the spirit of British debate, ritually humiliated and shown up for what it is. Incoherent, hate-filled nonsense. As Jonathan Dimbleby demonstrates most ably here. Watch it. It is just what we should all be doing, Margaret Hodge included, rather than beating our breasts.

Finally, with the breaking news of the Cabinet reshuffle and the sacking of Clarke and demotion of Straw, I have to ask whether there has ever been a more misjudged or flawed reshuffle in modern history. Much as I dislike that pair I do have a sneaking respect for them both. Reid and Beckett don't have anything on them and cannot really be seen as a genuine breath of fresh air. They are, to coin a phrase, a step backward not forward. A sign perhaps that, for Labour, the worm has turned.