I'm sure the government were hoping that the two weeks off for the Easter recess would calm everything down.

It's not been quite like that this year!

At the start of the break the press were still puffing away at the stories about ministers' expenses, but they were soon overtaken by the policing of the G20 demonstrations and the resignation of Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick.

Negative police stories continued with further complaints about the arrest of over 100 climate change protesters in the East Midlands and new revelations about police tactics at last summer's Climate Camp in Kent.

Even the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster has come into the picture. If the so-far confidential records are released ten years early the focus will again be on the police.

The Government may hold up its hands and say that policing is a matter for the police, but that won't wash with either the press or the voters.

Then there are the self-sown government banana skins ranging from the antics of Damian McBride to the rather farcical attempts by a clique of highly placed Blairites to foist a 22-year-old lass on the safe Labour seat of Erith and Thamesmead.

I am sure that Georgia Gould is, as reported, a very nice person. But her previous experience seems to have consisted of being secretary of the Oxford University Labour Club, hardly the peak of political success even at Oxford.

Her claim to this seat seems to rest on her status as daughter of a millionaire peer and New Labour guru.

So much for the party of the horny handed sons (or even daughters) of toil.

It's no surprise that Labour are down to 26% in two opinion polls as they go into the delayed budget week.

For once it's a budget that could really matter, though doing what is needed or what may be popular is not an easy choice for Chancellor Alistair Darling.

My guess is that he'll try to do the former.

All of which means that any thought of a General Election in 2009 is out of the question.

The real question this year may be whether Gordon Brown can survive beyond the Labour conference in October.