"- but how did Bliar know when to bail out?"
Because he was the one that caused all this shit!
Gordon Brown may well prove to be the most prepared Prime Minister in history, There will not be too many with the luxury of spending ten years of string pulling and 'friend' making knowing that the job will be his.
If he doesn't pull a few rabbits out of the bag, he deserves to be shot.
If he is as big a failure as Blair, then the Labour Party should disband and run headlong en bloc over Beachy Head.
Another thing... Why bother with Cabinet Ministers when it is obvious that we still have exclusive presidential rule?