Almost a case of Gordon shooting himself in the foot..
He's announced that by 2008, a thousand British troops will be home from Iraq..
But, what he didn't do was make the announcement in Parliament, but chose to do so while making a visit to Basra today.. And to further the blunder, he failed to mention that 230 of that thousand are already back.. that another 270 of them already had their orders cut to come home.. and that the other 500 were already expected to be returning early next year..
David and his Conference were expected to have been focussing at their Blackpool Conference on traditional Tory platform issues.. social reform.. prisons.. Home Ministry issues..
But this proved to be too much of a temptation to miss..
The Prime Minister has been accused of blatent electioneering with his announcement.. and the pundits are beginning to re-evaluate the advantage Labour might have, by calling a snap election..
Gordon's scarcely put a foot wrong since he's taken over from Tony.. But today's 'misinformation' has the public's attention..

Meanwhile.. at the Tory Convention.. Immigration did come up..
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.. He told the party conference "unchecked immigration is not inevitable...not the irresistible result of globalisation. We can control it. We will control it".
Davis promised "tough new border controls" and annual limits on economic migrants: "We want the right people and the right number of people."
He also backed "zero tolerance" on crime and pledged to axe ID cards.. a measure Labour backs, and which would cost tens of millions to put into effect.. The money saved by the scrapping of that plan, would be put towards expanding British prisons.. allowing an end to Labour's policy of 'early release', which to this point, has seemingly increased recidivism..
David also had some scathing remarks about Labour's failure to hold the promised referendum on any EU Treaty.."One of the most flagrant breaches of trust" in British politics the Tory leader declared..
More tomorrow.. with the Convention coming to an end. David's closing statement to his Party should be an interesting one..

The backlash from the collapse of the American housing market continues..
A number of big investment banks have admitted major losses caused by bad investments centred on US sub-prime mortgage markets..
Worst hit was Swiss bank UBS which was forced to write down losses of 4 billion Swiss francs..$3.4Am billion.. £1.67billion..
The group said it now planned to cut 1,500 jobs and make extensive management changes..
Later, US giant Citigroup revealed its sub-prime losses would total $1.3billion, as well as $2.6billion in extra credit costs..
And with gold and oil hitting record prices.. One hopes some took our advice and bought bullion.. a slight dip in the price early today, but that can be put down to profit taking..
It's not over yet..

Now, British media is not allowed in Burma.. but there are a host of reports coming in..
Apparently about four thousand Buddhist monks are going to be transported to prisons in the north of the country.. It might be advisable for some International Regulatory Commission to try and keep a head-count, for it's odds on many will 'disappear'..
On Sunday morning, the Christian churches held special services praying for peace and reconciliation for the country.. At least one Catholic church a priest led a prayer for the victims of the military violence.
The church wants to remain apolitical.
It wouldn't do, one supposes, to have Christians actively involved.. even though it is their country.. their rulers.. their cause..
Ahh well..
In the meantime, sources indicate, the streets of Rangoon are quiet.
But, then what can one expect when their are armed soldiers at every streetcorner..

First foot-and-mouth disease makes a reappearance.. disrupting British livestock trade.. then the appearance of bluetongue..
Not being one to promote conspiracy theories.. It might be considered how.. and why these diseases have suddenly appeared..
Biological terrorism is not limited to such as 'dirty bombs'..
Merely something to be considered..