Right Honorable Charlie

There's something strangely Lib Dem about Charles Kennedy's fall from leadership. Not quite as spectacular as Caesar's, but a similar sense of finality.

He was an alcoholic, and his years of private and public denial are perfectly consistent with the type. When finally he faced his demons, summoning every atom of strength and willpower, he went public and threw himself on the mercy of those around him. In the real world, if a mate of yours came out like that then it would be unthinkable to knife him in the back. But of course, we're not talking about the real world, we're talking about politics, so out he goes.

Coming out as an alcoholic last week, and still expecting to remain viable as leader, was a Lib Dem solution to his problem: honest, simple, straightforward, fair, just, impractical and totally unworkable.