One year into the Coalition and pressure is building on more ministers in what can only be described as hapless. Straight away David Laws had to stand down over his expenses and Vince Cable had the decision on referring the Murdoch takeover of BSkyB taken away from him after he expressed bias against him along with other details when secretly recorded by a journalist. That the matter was given to Jeremy Hunt who was openly biased in favour of Murdoch obviously doesn't matter. The fiasco in releasing an error strewn list of school building schemes to be cancelled did not exactly get Michael Gove off to a flying start and as for Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms; even the Government have taken a break to let things calm down. Add in Liam Fox challenging Cameron on overseas aid and Chris Huhne allegedly getting someone else to collect his speeding points then what is needed is a moment's calm - perhaps one of the few senior cabinet members who have had previous ministerial experience to step up to the plate. Somebody with the calm, assured statesmanlike presence who can convince the public that somebody in power actually knows what they are doing.
   It is unfortunate therefore that Ken Clarke should get himself embroiled in a debate over rape.  Whether he truly believes that some rapes are worse than others as has been interpreted from his comments or he got himself confused the whole incident does not reflect well. As he himself stated people will try to spin what he said to their advantage to make him look worse but he has been in politics long enough to know that and should therefore judge his comments accordingly. This often makes for bland, anodyne statements from ministers frightened from straying too far from the party line but on an issue as emotive as rape it is probably best to measure what you say. Claiming that rape was being singled out when his policy of halving sentences for guilty pleas was for all crimes was because it added sexual excitement to the headlines is offensive at best especially as it was added during the phone in he was taking part in from a caller.
   I am always wary of immediate resignation calls as they smack of opportunism, whatever the merits, but these things tend to have a momentum of their own and will largely depend on public opinion and how much the media can continue to stoke the issue. The right wing press have never been overly keen on Clarke as he is on the left of the Conservative Party and the left of centre tabloids (basically The Mirror) will use any stick to bash the Coalition with so he may get a hard time and his survival may depend on how long the furore lasts.
   Incidentally as spinning goes they missed a trick with this policy by announcing that a guilty plea would halve your sentence as the public consciousness immediately thinks "Soft on Crime" even though such a policy already exists but with a discount of a third. If, however, they announced that if you are found guilty after pleading not guilty then your sentence will be doubled but with the tariffs set accordingly so that the sentence would be the same then the public mood may be different.