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In a week where Labour looks to face certain defeat in the Norwich North by-election and James Purnell grooms himself as the new philosopher king in waiting as ‘the new conservatives' attempt to position themselves as the next wave of radicals, it is important to reflect accurately on the strange state of Labour and Gordon Brown's premiership.

The political maelstrom of the last few weeks, culminating in the near death experience of the Prime Minister who was only saved by a combination of inept political assassins without an alternative candidate and, more importantly, without anything to say on policy, appears to have abated.

Sometimes it seems that everything in Britain these days is doom and gloom. The banking crisis has dragged on and on and the credit famine is now having a devastating effect on consumer confidence, the housing market and employment.

So Gordon Brown bounced and what happened? More banks crashed. Oh, and he made an environmentally and electorally indefensible decision on a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Is everyone happy now?

Over the course of the recent violence in Gaza, in which the fully modernized army of Israel has fought the militiamen of Hamas, around 884 Palestinians, 220 of them children, have been killed and 3800 have been injured.

The British Government must put the world at work at the centre of its plan for economic revival - but there are few signs of it doing so.

Oh dear, I think Labour may have just lost the next general election. Tinkering with VAT and the top tax rate, failing to regulate financial and energy companies, and promising another stealth tax (a rise in National Insurance) for middle-income earners in 2011: it's not a manifesto I'm looking forward to selling on doorsteps.

While Obama's team talks of the minimal package needed to fight recession being worth 2% of GDP, our own Alistair Darling has announced a stimulus package worth 1.3% of GDP by 2010, 80% of which comprises a VAT cut of dubious merit and a reduction in employers' NI contributions aimed at helping small businesses.

After nine years New Zealand' Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark bowed out of party leadership following Labour's loss to the National Party at the weekend. She is to be replaced by the former Defence Minister Philip Goff and Annette King becomes Deputy Leader.

Politics and policy will always play a central role to any election campaign, but to be truly successful this needs to be accompanied by nuts and bolts organisation. In 1997 Labour was at the cutting edge in terms of organisation, but since then the Tories have been catching up.