Annus Horribilis

'Brilliant.' Matthew Parris What was Parliament's Annus Horribilis? It started in September when the government dropped the economic ball with the mother of financial crashes. And that was for starters. Never before have tax payers got such entertainment value out of their elected representatives: they fiddled their expenses while Gordon Brown led the country to the dogs! In Annus Horribilis, the Times political sketch writer Ann Treneman savours this unique Parliamentary year in her widely admired witty and sarcastic style, capturing the Hogarthian display of playground spats, bickering and serious people who can't resist the opportunity to make themselves look like fools.