A year in the strife of Mr Gordon Brown

ALMOST a year ago, Gordon Brown entered 10 Downing Street with the biggest of smiles. Following years of bitterness after Tony Blair broke his promise to hand over the reins of power sooner, at last the greatest of prizes was his.

He was forced to prove his worth almost immediately when faced with a series of emergencies: summer floods in England, the return of foot-and-mouth disease and the failed terror attacks on London and Glasgow.

As his long-term friend Sir Menzies Ca...