Today The Independent reports on a landscape - around the Burmese Payapon river - flooded with corpses, and a people begging for help. But, with the junta spurning the world's offers of aid, how can we ensure that help does reach the cyclone's victims? Tell us what you think.

By James Macintyre

Questions are being raised in the Saturday papers over the Chelsea shooting by police of Mark Saunders earlier this week, and rightly so. One that doesn't seem to have been answered (or asked), is why did officers apparently spray him with bullets before throwing tear gas and stun grenades into his house, rather than the other way around? The Met, as ever, is behind the scenes heavily briefing its side of the story to the press. But the scrutiny it faces is notably enhanced since the last high-profile police shooting, that of the innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes when he was mistaken for a suicide bomber in 2005.

The Spectator 180th anniversary party - Coffee House

How to be graceful - Justin Webb

Responsibility to protect, but not in natural disasters - Harry's Place

Crewe's Edward "Timmy" Timpson - Kevin Maguire

ACTSA Action Appeal: ZCTU leadership arrested in post election conflict - This is Zimbabwe

How to succeed in Burma with a practical approach - Brahma Chellaney, The Japan Times

Desmond Tutu: Arms scandal shows need for treaty - Desmond Tutu, The New Zealand Herald

In Visit to Israel, Bush Can Prevent A War With Iran - Mort Kondracke, Roll Call (USA)

Desperate Clinton is Danger to the Party - Eugene Robinson, The Washington post

Is the EU's 'democracy check' on Turkey wrong? - Cengiz ÇANDAR, Turkish Daily News

By Michael Savage

As the state of Israel celebrated it's 60th birthday this week, there was no shortage of media coverage on the issue. The Independent's main writing on the subject is here. But for anyone not familiar with the history of the birth of Israel, the conflict in the subsequent decades can be impossible to penetrate. And with feelings running high on both sides, it can be an intimidating subject to approach.

For anyone in that situation who wants to take the first tentative steps towards understanding the most intractable conflict on earth, I would recommend One Palestine, complete, by the extraordinarily good Tom Segev.

By Johann Hari

Phillips and Honest Reporting choose Benny Morris as their follow-this-link example of a historian you can trust, a reasonable arbiter of what actually happened. So let’s just look at the Ben Gurion quotes we know he accepts because he draws on them in his own work. In a letter to his son Amos on 5 October 1937, Ben Gurion wrote: “We could not tolerate vast areas of Palestine that would not be colonized by us. We will expel the Arabs, the Arabs would have to go... If we have to use force, we will use force. The appropriate moment would come if not now, later...We can wait for great revolutions to come.' [Ben-Gurion Archives, the Correspondence Section, doc. 19-22]

By Johann Hari

In my column yesterday, I talked about the McCarthyite smearing that can descend on you if you criticise the actions of the Israeli government. I didn’t have space there to discuss this useful example. In a recent article discussing Israel’s 60th birthday, I tried to summarise the historical evidence as best I understand it about what happened in 1948. I cited the abundant historical evidence that David Ben-Gurion – Israel’s first Prime Minister – supported ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. ‘Honest Reporting’ and Melanie Phillips argued this was false and a malicious lie.

How do they rebut my arguments? There are smears, obviously: Phillips even entitles her post ‘The War Against the Jews’, the name of a famous history of the Holocaust. But for meat, they link to a statement by Benny Morris, the Israeli historian. Yet if you follow the link, you will find Benny Morris admits that Ben Gurion did in fact say “I support compulsory transfer”.

By Andy McSmith

There is one phrase in the self-serving, manipulative statement by the ghastly Josef Fritz published in The Independent and other papers today that sticks in the mind. "I grew up in Nazi times and that meant respect for authority and the need to control. I suppose I took on some of these old values."

Since the discovery of Fritzl's secret, an argument has raged about whether there is a connection between his crimes and Austria's Nazi past. The historian Peter Millar says that there is. The Independent's Dominic Lawson says not. Some of those who say there is a connection have indulged in pretty wild generalisations about Austrian society, that make you wonder whether they have ever been there, or met an Austrian.  Every society throws up psychopaths who exhibit extreme cruelty, including ours.

By guest author, Neal Lawson

David Cameron’s pitch for the progressive ground of politics is a huge challenge to the centre-left. It is both threat and opportunity. The threat comes from the fact that he might be believed. Given that New Labour has never trumpeted its redistribution to the poor no one feels good about it. The recipients don’t know why their pay packets are fuller as a consequence of tax credits or the minimum wage and the rest of society is not hard wired into the moral prerequisite of a fair and just society. It would be a tragedy if New Labour lets the Tories get away with such a trick.

In The Independent today:

I leave Israel with the sinking feeling that hopes of a final settlement are receding - Dominic Lawson

We are the champions of progressive ideals - David Cameron

American democracy in all its filthy glory - Matthew Norman

Giant white horses and the dangers of 'plop' art  - Joan Bakewell

Government advice by text? V gd idea - Terence Blacker

Why the status quo must be maintained - Ann Furedi

The denial of a man who cannot accept being wrong - Simon Carr's Sketch

The Best of the Rest:

Exit Clinton. But what a show next! - Gerard Baker, The Times

Angel of the South: the wrong horse - Ben Macintyre, The Times

Unless dozy ministers wake up, the Last Post will sound for Royal Mail - Jeff Randall, The Daily Telegraph

Austria is defined by its nasty secrets - Nigel Jones, The Daily Telegraph

Resist the medievalists. Women's right to abortion is a private matter - Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

This lethal peepshow - Mark Lawson, The Guardian

A study of the survival rates of premature babies has provided a vital boost to pro-choice campaigners, ahead of one of the most significant parliamentary debates on abortion for a generation. Should the abortion limit stay as it is, or should it be cut? Let us know what you think.

By Ben Chu

As part of its public flagellation for ripping off its viewers with rigged phone-in competitions, ITV has published a report from the law firm Olswang. It's damning stuff. The report reveals that the "People's Award" at the 2005 ITV Comedy Awards, voted for by viewers, should have gone to The Catherine Tate Show, not Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. When the winner was announced, Tate had more votes than Ant & Dec. The report has also revealed that the award organisers had promised Robbie Williams that he could present an award to Ant & Dec, in order to guarantee his attendance at the show.

But then Olswang's report delivers this unintentionally amusing verdict:

Keeping the supers sweet - Justin Webb

From The Democratic Voice of Burma - FPB Minister

Good luck banning the booze, Boris - FP Passport

Stop the Massacre of Sadr-City - Al-Ghad

The Democratic primary season in seven minutes - Tom Watson

Myanmar: Rescue Them - editorial, Times of India

Tests Ahead for Obama - Robert Novak, Washington Post

What rights do you have? - Ekrem Dumanli, Zaman

Mideast change is coming, and may not be pretty - Rami Khouri, Lebanon Daily Star

Politics aside, a human rights crime is happening in Gaza - Jimmy Carter, Lebanon Daily Star

By John Rentoul

You would think, wouldn't you, that if you were going to take a widely-reported phrase as the title of your polemic against Tony Blair you might just check that the phrase had actually been uttered as reported? You might even listen to the recording. Top marks to Simon Hoggart (via Neil D at Harry's Place and MM at Labourhome) for drawing our attention to the fact that George Bush never said "Yo, Blair!" Listen to the start of his programme and you'll hear the President very clearly saying: "Yeah, Blair, what are you doing?"

By Jeremy Laurance

Jacqui Smith’s decision to upgrade cannabis to Class B from Class C is pure political posturing designed to persuade Middle England that the Government is tough on drugs. Classification is irrelevant. How many 14 year olds, about to puff on their first joint, will have any idea whether the drug they are ingesting is class C or B or what it means?

Far more helpful to parents and to those young people bent on trying the drug would be clear advice about how to minimise the risks. Cannabis is Britain’s most popular illegal drug used by 2.5 million people a year. Threatening users with an increase in the maximum prison sentence from two years (under Class C) to five years (Class B) for possession will not stop them experimenting.

By Johann Hari

In my column today, I talk about how an organisation called ‘Honest Reporting’ orchestrates barrages of complaints against writers who criticise the Israeli government. I thought it might be interesting to give readers a taster of what these emails are like. Don’t read them if you are offended by swearing and references to child molestation.

Hundreds have asked a variant of “why do you never criticise Muslims or Arabs?” I always email back with links to dozens of articles in which I have vehemently criticised Islamic fundamentalists and the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and for which I have been widely (and stupidly) accused of “Islamophobia”. So far, one has written back to acknowledge they were wrong. The rest either go silent, or change the subject.

To be fair, a handful of the emails have been polite and rational, and I’ve had an interesting if heated exchange with those readers. But the vast majority are, I’m afraid, like the following three.

By Chris Schuler

The collapse of Microsoft’s attempt to take over the search engine Yahoo has drawn attention to the overwhelming market dominance of Google, which it had hoped to rival. Of course, people use Google because is fast, easy to use and comes up with pretty good results. But I’m sure that inertia also plays a part – it’s simply the search engine most of us are used to. It’s worth looking beyond the giants, though. A new search engine called Everyclick will raise money for your favourite charity as you search. Like other search engines, Everyclick makes money through sponsored listings, banner advertising and commissions from retailers featured on its shopping pages. Unlike other search engines, Everyclick gives 50 per cent of its revenue to charity.

In The Independent today:

The last thing Gordon Brown needs now is a referendum on Scottish independence - Steve Richards

Don't blame Mr Loophole. He's performing a service - Robert Verkaik

The loathsome smearing of Israel's critics - Johann Hari

Hang on in there, Hillary. It's too soon to quit - Sarah Churchwell

Deep in rural England, fresh fields for the BNP - Janet Street-Porter

Why we choose to scale the heights - Carola Long

Tired and lonely gorilla is an endangered species - Simon Carr's Sketch

The Best of the Rest:

This tale of two revolutions and two anniversaries may yet have a twist - Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian

Our elderly need to be cared for, not silenced with drugs - Sandra Leville, The Guardian

Gordon Brown can only fight for his beliefs - Mary Riddell, The Daily Telegraph

Irrational ambition is Hillary Clinton's flaw - Anne Applebaum, The Daily Telegraph

Clinton and Brown: dreams that died - Anatole Kaletsky, The Times

The glass ceiling in women's heads - Camilla Cavendish, The Times

A new study has exposed the staggering amount of food thrown away every day by the British public, calculating that the annual total of wasted products adds up to a record £10bn. Are you throwing away an excessive amount of food every week? What can be done to prevent wastage? Let us know what you think.

Could lighting up save your life? - Daniel Finkelstein

Punching Too Hard? - Kevin Maguire

Brownspeak made simple - Nick Robinson

Drugs are normal - Our Kingdom

Election Observers Under Attack in Mt Darwin East - This is Zimbabwe

No Softer Than Putin - Rose Gottemoeler, The Moscow Times

The Nominees Emerge, Hobbled - David Brooks, The New York Times

The ecological factor - Dr Amin A. Gadit, Dawn (Pakistan)

When growth turns into a monster - Ross Gittins, The Sydney Morning Herald

Will emerging Europe adjust safely to less benign times? - Michael Deppler, Turkish Daily News

By Andy McSmith

Somehow I knew we had not heard the last of Lee Jasper. It emerges today that he is contemplating a return to politics as Labour MP for Vauxhall, in place of the troublesome Kate Hoey. It is some years since I have lived in this constituency, but from what I know, I don't think this notion is complete fantasy. Given Hoey's record, there must be people in the Vauxhall Labour Party who are of a mind to deselect her. It is the sort of seat where, sooner or later, the Labour party will want to run a black or Asian candidate, and it would be almost impossible for any Labour to lose it in a general election.

All of which fills me with foreboding. As Ken Livingstone's advisers were licking their wounds over the weekend, one point on which they agreed was the ex-Mayor should have sacked Lee Jasper sooner.

By Nigel Morris

Gordon Brown’s determination to restore cannabis from a class C to a class B substance was one of the worst-kept secrets in Westminster. When the new Prime Minister asked the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on July 18 to assess the evidence over the dangers of cannabis, Whitehall sources made clear there was only one conclusion he wanted the council to reach.

The ACMD’s chairman, Sir Michael Rawlins, even wrote to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, nearly three months ago to seek her assurance that she was keeping an open mind on the subject. She insisted she was.

By guest author, Jules Hornbrook

The sad passing of Gwyneth Dunwoody could be the catalyst for change around Crewe and Nantwich. There’s been a flurry of political activity leading up to the former Labour MP’s funeral, with plenty of seemingly rash promises being made. If half of them are honoured the town will be transformed! Trouble is, we’re in danger of getting lost amid substantial bouts of mud slinging. The 10 per cent tax issue has been played early by the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson, with other Labour woes also being highlighted by him and the Lib Dem’s late substitute Elizabeth Shenton. None of them should look smug, however, as if any of the political heavyweights in London gaff over the next two weeks, you can be sure that their by-election representatives will get slaughtered up here.

For me, though, the local stuff is crucial and Crewe and Nantwich voters need to rise above the national squabbling.

By John Rentoul

I don't think it was very clever of David Cameron to criticise the Prime Minister for wearing more make-up than Barbara Cartland. (The transcript of Prime Minister's Questions should be here shortly.) Just as Mr Punch's description of his opponent as a "shallow salesman" last week was ill-judged, Judy's response was simply childish abuse. Perhaps Cameron was following Fraser Nelson's advice, and throwing Gordon Brown a lifeline because he wants to keep him in his job.

By guest author, Donna Robinson Divine

Israel marks its independence by counting: the number of soldiers fallen in wars; the number of civilians murdered in acts of terror; the number of Jews and non-Jews who live in the country. But counting also produces an accounting as the country assesses the price its people pay for Jewish sovereignty. As Israel has moved further from its 1948 point of origin, its fear of not measuring up to the ideals of the nation’s founders is as real as its consciousness of progress.

A Jewish state was intended to secure Jewish lives, revitalize and expand Jewish culture, and serve as a universal model for social justice. Perhaps such exacting goals could never be fully met, but they continue to set the standards against which the nation tests itself. Independence Day is a kind of secular Rosh ha-Shanah, another occasion when the state publishes its census and a Day of Judgment according to religious tradition.

In The Independent today:

We should all be shocked by these stories of teenagers shot and stabbed on our streets - Deborah Orr

Has the real Gordon been replaced by a robot? - Mark Steel

We will have to beat inflation the hard way - Hamish McRae

Take heart from the city that shaped Medvedev - Mary Dejevsky

The discreet charm of the new politicos - Christina Patterson

Waves of suffering wash over my land - Dr Zar Ni

Tired Labour gazes into the abyss - Simon Carr's Sketch

The Best of the Rest:

Gordon Brown: it's Burma, not bins - Alice Miles, The Times

Alcohol abuse: remember Gin Lane - Magnus Linklater, The Times

As it turns 60, the fear is Israel has decided it can get by without peace - Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian

Rail at the railings - Joe Moran, The Guardian

Moral questions when British jobs are at risk - Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph

Out of tragedy, light may shine on Burma - Graeme Jenkins, The Daily Telegraph

One million people have been left homeless in the world's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami – but the Burmese junta is obstructing global aid efforts. Should more diplomatic pressure be put on the junta to allow aid agencies access to worst-affected areas? Let us know what you think.

By James Macintyre

So, one or two of us were indeed very wrong about the London maroyal election, having underestimated the extent to which real, electoral politics can be influenced by a right-of-centre rampant media pack at Westminster. Clearly also, as has been noted here on Open House, the Tory candidate benefited from a high turnout among the very English, political-chat-show-watching, big-car-driving suburbanites on the edge of the city; while much of the more diverse, inner city and - yes - Labour electorate stayed at home. But the voter is always right, and there is no denying that a victory for a stylish, media-friendly but thin-on-policy Tory Etonian, over a gruff, flawed-but-boringly-substantial Leftist deliverer, is genuinely bad news for Gordon Brown. But is it, along with the horrific local election results across the country, proof of the total national meltdown that is now being reported as a done deal for Labour?

Clarke lashes out (again) - Matthew D'Ancona

Have you got money on the Hillary bounce-back? - Political Betting

British Council (in Spain) - David Miliband

Consequence of devolution - Nick Robinson

36 Prisoners shot dead by guards during Cyclone Nargis - Burma Digest

Food for Thought - editorial, Times of India

Peace at any price - Moshe Arens, Haaretz

Parties Must Stop the Panic Bandwagon - editorial, Chosun Ilbo (South Korea)

Government ineptitude to blame for plight of IDPs - Ndung'u Njaga, Daily Nation (Kenya)

Feeling Blue in Indiana - Porter Shreve, New York Times

By John Rentoul

At the time, I thought last week's Commons confrontation between Gordon Brown and David Cameron was finely balanced. Cameron was against raising the limit on detention without charge to 42 days, but sounded as if he didn't really believe his own argument; while Brown defended 42 days - and sounded as if he didn't really believe in his own argument. Cameron won on style, Brown on substance.
But towards the end Brown suddenly declared:

This is the man who is a shallow salesman and never addresses the substance of the issue.

I thought it struck a wrong note, but couldn't put my finger on why. Now I can.

By Sean O'Grady

In all the post-elections coverage I've been struck by the way Not-So-New Labour are just unconsciously copying the John Major playbook of the 1990s. In response to John Rentoul's counter, here's half a dozen reasons why we're gong back to the future...

1. Labour never used to fall back on the arrogant and complacent line that no matter how badly they do in by-elections/local elections/European Elections it didn't matter l because they could go on and win the general election - not an argument as such, just a statement of psephological fact, if that. It's what the Tories said in the 1990s and it didn't work for them then. The losing gap is even bigger now. Anthony King on the BBC pointed out that the biggest gap between the parties where the governing party lost and then went on to win a general election was the Tories 11 point deficit against Labour in the 1985 locals. The gap last week was 20 points. The issue is that losing councils and councillors does a matter long term - it tends to hollow out and demoralise local activists who have no leadership to look to and nothing to campaign for. It helped kill the Tory grassroots 20 years ago.Why did Brown dismiss the elections as a "referendum on Labour" ?

By John Rentoul

I share Hopi Sen's high opinion of Daniel Finkelstein, and The Fink's post this morning is an example of why. The conventionally wise are busy comparing Gordon Brown with the late-period (that is, doomed) John Major. If I can translate, Finkelstein, who worked for Major 1995-97, says: "Prime Minister, I served with John Major; I knew John Major; John Major was a friend of mine. Prime Minister, you 're no John Major." This is how Finkelstein puts it:

Major had a great deal more public appeal and ability to communicate with voters. He won a mandate of his own, after all, with a massive Tory vote.

On the basis of his experience of that miserable period, he lists 10 things that Brown can expect:

By Sean O'Grady

Oil at $120 a barrel. Whatever next? Oil at $200, probably, if the president of Opec is to be believed. Oil is a wonderful thing because it melds politics and economics so well. This time is no different. A terror group named Mend has vowed to blow up all of Shell's installations in Nigeria, and they've just succeeded in attacking and shutting down more Shell operations. Turkish incursions in Northern Iraq have done most of the rest. A little, however, actually comes from the most surprising source of all - good news from the US economy, where jobs and output figures are looking encouraging.

By Johann Hari

At last – a solution to my Boris blues! I have just forced myself to read the detailed election stats from last Thursday. It seems the media cliché is true: it’s the angry, whiter outer suburbs that elected Boris, out of rage with the congestion charge and council tax. Boris will forever be the mayor of Zones Four to Six, the chief executive of Watford and Bromley and Amersham.

In The Independent today:

There is still time for Gordon Brown to save the day – if he can learn to trust his instincts - Steve Richards

The creepy cult of management consultancy - Gary McKeone

Italian fascism is once again on the rise - Peter Popham

Sex education? Don't expect it from teachers - Ellie Levenson

Junta is acting out of self-preservation, not compassion - Peter Popham

The mad, mad world of the very famous - Terence Backer

The Best of the Rest:

'Listening' politicians are a menace - David Aaronovitch, The Times

Google's unhealthy dominance will end - David Rowan, The Times

Time to examine Conservative policies - Anthony Browne, The Daily Telegraph

Oxford is an elite university, not elitist - John Hood, The Daily Telegraph

If there is a God, he's not green. Otherwise airships would take off - George Monbiot, The Guardian

A new Russian president gives Europe the chance to get tougher - and closer - David Clark, The Guardian

Today The Independent reports on the cyclone that has claimed at least 10,000 lives in Burma over the weekend, and has led the pariah state to make an unprecedented plea for international help. Will the cyclone provide the West with an opportunity to bring Burma into the international fold? Tell us what you think

Has the Democratic race shifted? - Coffee House

Cameron at the Butchers - Our Kingdom

Myanmar: The perfect storm - Global Voices

'Boris' ambition to PM will make him a disciplined Mayor' - Conservative Home

He who pays the piper calls the tune! - Peter Mavunga, The Herald (Zimbabwe)

Leave Olmert alone for now - Uzi Benziman, Haaretz

The economic crisis - Ahmad Faruqui, Dawn (Pakistan)

Libs will always languish without intellectual brawn - Gerard Henderson, Sydney Morning Herald

By Michael Savage

I was surprised that more wasn't made of Rachel Johnson's description of Boris's lavish victory party. Clearly in party mood already, the sister of the new mayor spoke to a late night radio programme, describing the goodies on offer at Boris's bash. It was an anti-Boris campaigner's dream - caviar, champagne and oysters - and not the kind you use to get on the D6 to Hackney.

"God knows who's paying for it all", said Rachel, slamming down the phone abruptly to meet "Dave" and her victorious brother.

According to Andrew Gilligan in today's Media section, the "anti-Boris" press are desperate for any scraps of impropriety that Mayor Boris throws their way. Strange then, that the only place the story was picked up was the Sunday Mirror, famous for caricaturing the Tory front benchers as a bunch of "toffs".

By Simon Carr

The rest of that 10 point plan for Gordon:

6. Ignore your own whips. Push through a Bill allowing the Commons to vote on the membership of all Commons committees. Pay committee members a premium. Allow committee chairs to force debates. Halve the amount of government legislation going through the House. But insist what is passed is thoroughly scrutinised. Accept some opposition amendments as a matter of principle.

7. Make sure all European legislation is properly debated in the Commons, and have accepted mechanisms by which EU proposals can be rejected. Make sure 15 per cent of such proposals are rejected. Pick some fights you can win.

By guest author, Anthony Painter

When asked on ABC News about what she would do if Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, Hillary Clinton was explicit, “…we would be able to totally obliterate them and those people who run Iran need to know that.”

Forget the fact that the latest CIA National Intelligence Estimate on Iran concludes that the Iranians have suspended their nuclear weapons programme. No, Mrs Clinton was perfectly happy to skip across two lily pads of ‘if.’ Mrs Clinton treated the scenario of Iran acquiring a nuclear capability and launching a nuclear attack on Israel as a round-the-corner possibility. Someone keep her away from the red phone, please. Suddenly, the fact that Barack Obama’s nutty, former pastor believes that AIDS was an attack on black Americans orchestrated by the Federal government seems almost quaint by comparison.

Not to be outdone, the Fox News Commentariat has responded with its own set of ‘ifs’ that can only hurtle the US towards ever more assertive militarism.

By Simon Carr

All right, Gordon, I thought it was hopeless, but maybe there are things you can do to retrieve your reputation. The point behind these suggestions is this: any nicey-nicey innovations (more childcare, longer maternity leave, higher tax credits) will produce no electoral gratitude. People will think you're being weak and trying to ingratiate yourself. The proposals need an edge. And it's important you are caused pain in this process; people will like that.

Spend £10bn or so on the relaunch. At 1.5 per cent of public spending it's less than petty cash; if you can’t find that to invest in your future you shouldn’t be CEO.

In the Independent today:

Bruce Anderson: Boris Johnson is a libertarian, but he is not a Tory

Johann Hari: BNP votes are a cry of white working-class anguish

Andreas Whittam Smith: This Austrian shame is compounded by history

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: In Kampala, 1968 was a bit more complex...

The Sketch: Gordon may be listening – but he's not really hearing

Best of the rest:

Every city should have its own Boris - Tim Hames, The Times

The last frontier... your salary - Melanie Reid, The Times

Fair wages are a fantasy in the brutal underside of Cowboy Boss Britain - Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian

All Gordon can do is fight on - and hope his luck turns - Jackie Ashley, The Guardian

What David Cameron should do next - Janet Daley, Telegraph

Hillary Clinton would be the bigger gamble - Clive Crook, FT

Today The Independent reports on Gordon Brown's final fight-back after Labour crashed to its worst electoral drubbing for a generation at the hands of the Tories and criticism intensified of his record as Prime Minister. But do you think Gordon Brown is capable of restoring voter confidence in the Labour Party? Should he go or stay? Tell us what you think.

In the Independent on Sunday today:

Melanie McDonagh: A darkness where only the human spirit can survive

John Rentoul: The day Boris became Mayor was the beginning of the end for Dave

Tim Lott: My LSD trip down memory lane

Katy Guest: Pink suits roses and babies, but women have moved on

Rupert Cornwell: Out of America

Best of the rest:

Hysteria over cannabis is getting in the way of truth - Colin Blakemore, Observer

Time to put an end to this age of cynicism and scorn - Henry Porter, Observer

Feeble government lets the superclass soar over the rest of us - Will Hutton, Observer

Now mayor Boris must spark an electoral surge nationwide - Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times

They do vile differently in Austria - India Knight, Sunday Times

Boris Johnson's London will be a Tory lab - Matthew d'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph