Poor David Blunkett. The sniggering about his
sex life and mounting political pressures seem
to have got to him. We're hearing tales of
Blunkett bursting into tears in civil servant
meetings and even in front of newspaper editors.
Plus he's taken up phoning journalists and
giving quotes about his personal life and
children, on condition that the papers say
they come from "friends of David Blunkett",
only then to issue statements denying their
veracity and demanding privacy from the press.
Thankfully for the PM, a dodgy share-dealing
story conveniently turned up so David
could be quietly "resigned", rather than
any more whisperings of a Syd Barrett-style
meltdown emerging. And this would explain
why he wasn't allowed do the standard short TV
interview with the BBC political editor
that all other departing cabinet ministers
seem to have to do.