So while Tony Blair didn’t go as far as to ask Women’s Hour to play Armageddon Days (Are Here Again) by The The in his quest to shit the nation right up this morning, he definitely came a close second.

(Good to see the London Evening Standard going for it hook, line and sinker again like they did with the “45 Minutes From Doom” lark:

The full scale of the terrorist threat confronting Britain was laid bare by the Prime Minister today.

In a chilling warning, he said “several hundred” active terrorists were already inside Britain and plotting atrocities.

The separation of news and editorial like Charles and Camilla, it seems, is a distant memory. It’ll be interesting to see how Blair backs away from this later - no doubt the intelligence services will have ballsed up again.)

It’s fortunate he had the platform to warn us liberals that we’re preventing him from saving our worthless lives, but then, it’s been a day for strange coincidences.

First the launch of the Met’s anti-terror campaign and then the arrival in court of Saajid Badat who miraculously/mysteriously changed his plea to not guilty at the last moment. This, of course, lifted all reporting restrictions on the case so all the frightening details could go out on the nightly news bulletins and make juicy headlines tomorrow.

All, again, while the Home Secretary tries to revoke Magna Carta in record time. (You have to admit, he moves with impressive speed for a man of his bulk.) Look out for the tomorrow’s newspaper headlines - they’re unlikely to be about tonight’s debate or 100 dead in Iraq.

Just how the sorry tale of Badat, the suicide bomber who found the will to live, fits with the putative anti-terror legislation isn’t clear. It was Badat getting cold feet that prevented the atrocity, not the security services - if he hadn’t he might have blown a plane up and no amount of “control orders” would have prevented it. It was sheer luck that shoebomber and Badat associate Richard Reid failed, was arrested and evidence on him (phone cards) led to Badat.

What is clear though is that Badat was nicked, charged and prosecuted under the current system.

UPDATE: John B says much the same over at Shot By Both Sides. Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous, anybody?