No moving over for Darling

As Gordon Brown embarks on a round of cabinet reshuffling, brought forward in the wake of open dissent from ministers and bad results in the English local elections, Alistair Darling is to stay as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It had been thought that Brown's ally, Ed Balls – an economics whizz-kid who currently holds the post of Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families – was to be given the top job at the Treasury, especially after it emerged that Darling had been caught up in the ongoing expenses scandal now rocking the British political system.

The Chancellor is among several Cabinet ministers accused of repeatedly "flipping" their second home - changing the homes he claimed allowances on, for which Mr Darling, having at first denied the story, later apologised "unreservedly" saying he would pay back the money. Nonetheless, there has been a growing clamor calling for Darling to be sacked over his financial probity, pointing out how a man who couldn’t be trusted over his personal finances could hardly be relied upon to oversee the economy in the heat of recession.