Only one thing can save Gordon Brown now, a new war. He need not win it, just declare it in good time for an election and put soldiers in harm's way. On all past evidence, it could rescue his administration.
Tony Blair waged war in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. He fought and won two khaki elections, selling his victory in Kosovo in 2000 and Iraq in 2003 as proof of his leadership qualities. For his ally, George Bush, war was a source of constant support, as it had been for this father. Declaring war helped Eden during Suez, Margaret Thatcher after the Falklands and John Major after Operation Desert Fox. War is as it always has been, the elixir of democratic politics.
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