It’s amazing sometimes. You write a piece, and then the very next day, news breaks that moves the story on a few notches. As I mentioned, I’d been preparing a piece about how a right wing government would change the political landscape in Europe and in the US, but just this morning the Daily Telegraph was reporting that Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, had been implicated in the ongoing MP’s expenses scandal. In the British political system, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the second most powerful position in the cabinet; he sets the budget, decides where and what money can be spent, and is responsible (well, as much as any politician can effect it) for the performance of the country’s economy. It was the position that Gordon Brown himself had filled during the premiership of Tony Blair.

Details are still emerging of what exactly Darling is supposed to have done, but it seems as if he continued to claim expenses on his London flat after he moved into Number Eleven Downing Street, the official residences of the Chancellor. It is against the official code of conduct for a Member of Parliament to claim expenses on a house that is not his primary residence. It also appears that Mr. Darling is making a profit on the rent for his own flat. The Chancellor has promised to pay back seven hundred dollars to avoid the appearance of any wrong doing. What seems most worrying for Mr. Darling is that Gordon Brown has openly criticized him.

When asked about ministers James Purnell, Geoff Hoon (who have also been implicated) and Mr. Darling, Mr. Brown said:

“These things are being looked at by what you might call the Committee of the House of Commons with independent auditors.

“Where there is wrong¬doing, it will be exposed. Where people need to be punished, they will be punished. Where repayment needs to be made, it will be made.”

Speaking on the lunchtime news, he refused to confirm that he would not be replacing Alistair Darling as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The leaders of both other major political parties, the Conservatives (on the Right Wing), and the Liberal Democrats (in the center), have both called for Mr. Darling’s dismissal. This represents a massive embarrassment and problem for the Prime Minister. If he stands by his Chancellor, he risks being accused of complicity in the affair, and if he fires him, he loses a major political ally in a time of real need, as well as admitting that the scandal reaches right to the top of his administration. Aides had earlier indicated that a cabinet reshuffle was scheduled for Friday of this week, in order to bring in a set of ministers who owed their promotion to Brown, and thus would, in theory, have to stand by him for a short while at least should a leadership challenge arise.

There’s a real possibility, therefore, that Alistair Darling may not see out the week. A further consequence of this could be increased pressure on Gordon Brown to call a general election at a time when he is deeply unpopular in the populace, something that he clearly does not want to do.