The Dread and Envy of Them All

Daveybloke's Chinese Democracy burble - much-touted, long-anticipated, probably noisy and not awfully refined, and almost certainly not worth the wait - is now to be delivered on Wednesday, and on the mainland rather than in Europe. Partly, no doubt, the new delay is a considerate diplomatic measure designed to avoid any risk of stealing Barack Obama's thunder on the occasion of his second swearing-in. Daveybloke will also wish to milk the North African situation for all it is worth, since no Conservative prime minister is complete without a good war, and certainly no heir to Blair can be legitimate without the promise of a decades-long crusade against a dubiously existential threat. On the minor matter of shoving Nick Clegg's head down the U-bend yet again, Daveybloke is expected to threaten a "drift towards the exit" unless he is permitted to re-write the Treaty of Lisbon for the convenience of his chums; it is not as yet clear whether the Franco-German axis will attempt its unconditional surrender immediately or in a month or two.