Not Jackin' It In.

So it would appear that after a year of deliberation, procrastination and delay, all for the convenience of the Scottish Labour Party in avoiding a by-election, that Jack McConnell MSP won't now be heading off to be British Commissioner to Malawi until 2011. Just last year he was billed as being uniquely qualified to fill and one that our Jack was honoured to have, but obviously now not until 2011.

If there is one thing more likely to upset the voters than "fixing" a government job for a politician simply to avoid a by-election then Mr Smith would like to know what it is. The whole thing brings politics in Scotland and the UK into nothing short of disrepute. But can Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, wait another couple of years before it benefits from our Jack's unique skill set?

"JACK McConnell's planned departure from Holyrood has been put on hold by Gordon Brown, ensuring that Labour will avoid a bruising by-election struggle against the SNP. McConnell will not be sent to Malawi as the UK's High Commissioner until after the next Scottish elections in 2011, and is instead be made a personal envoy to Brown, working in the developing world. McConnell had been due to leave for Malawi next year, which would have triggered a by-election in his Motherwell and Wishaw seat. But now he will stay in the seat, while taking on the one-day-a-week job for Brown."