Sir Humphrey's in charge

The final bits of legislation are being tidied up and from next Monday the country will be without a Parliament. The country will be in the hands of civil servants. Somehow, I think we will get by.

One snippet of interest on the Channel 4 News just now is that Parliament will not be recalled until May 18, 12 days after the election, rather than on May 12 as would be usual. This is because the Civil Service is worried that the election will produce a hung Parliament and it will take an extra week for party leaders to haggle and horsetrade and generally fudge a deal.

So, for six weeks and one day there will be no one by mandarins in charge. No legislation, no debates, no decisions. Barring France declaring war on us, when I guess Gordon Brown will step in, the business of running the country will just potter along. Bliss.