Stay away, Sir Terry

THESE are anxious hours in Ipswich - the borough council desperately awaiting news of its bid for unitary status and Suffolk county council still believing that not even a Labour government could be so stupid as to grant Ipswich its wish.

The announcement from Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly has been "imminent" since 9:45 this morning. The delay is said to be down to nervousness at the Treasury over the cost of yet another upheaval in local government, given the lack of demonstrators in the street clamouring for 26 counties and towns to be given the upgrade in status their councillors so obviously desire.

News that Sir Terry Wogan could be drafted in to announce the winning applicants has not gone down well, after he gave out the name of the wrong Eurovision candidate. What is certain is that Prudence has won the day - even if the go-ahead is given for a unitary Ipswich, there will be tough financial strings attached.

UPDATE AT 18:35

STILL no word! From a Government which micromanages every single announcement with an eye on how to create a favourable impression, this is a complete nonsense. These are the dying embers of Tony Blair's government - he has either lost the plot or this is a harbinger of what a Gordon Brown administration will be like. It doesn't eaxacly breed confidence for the future.