The Economist has an interesting story on how the terrorist plot to blow up several planes may have propelled a new face into the lineup of Tony Blair's succession prospects:

"IT ALREADY looks as if the uncovering of an alleged plot by young Britons, mostly of Pakistani origin, to blow up as many as ten America-bound airliners will change the way people everywhere fly. The political consequences may be as far-reaching.

The first reaction of most Britons to the news of 25 arrests was almost certainly what the government would have wished: admiration for the work of the security services and the police, combined with weary resignation on the part of travellers faced with disrupted journeys. But as ministers know only too well, first reactions fade quickly. What voters will remember is whether the government appeared competent and in control; and whether, overall, its policies are helping to make them more or less safe.

Five days on and barely out of his floral swimming trunks after a family holiday in Corfu, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, launched a brisk attack on the government's record on dealing with Islamist terrorism. He criticised Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, for freezing the budget of the beleaguered Home Office for the next three years. He trotted out a couple of familiar Tory gripes: the government's reluctance to allow intercept evidence to be used in court and the need for a minister with specific responsibility for counter-terrorism. He added that the government had failed to follow through on the measures announced by Tony Blair in the immediate aftermath of last year's London bombings, in particular, the promise to deport jihadist preachers and to do something to tackle the alienation of young Muslims.

Mr Cameron can't be blamed for wanting to get some headlines of his own, but at such times, the government's critics have to tread carefully. The Tories are already open to the accusation—one swiftly reiterated by ministers—that in opposing legislation to introduce ID cards and to detain suspected terrorists for up to 90 days, they are putting public safety at risk.

If the government found it easy to bat away the Conservative attack, it was bowled a full toss by a group of influential British Muslims, including three Labour MPs. In an open letter sent to Mr Blair on August 12th, they suggested the prime minister's policies in Iraq and the Middle East were providing “ammunition” for extremists. The letter's signatories rapidly found themselves under assault from almost every quarter for appearing to want to give terrorists a veto over British foreign policy.

The government has also been fortunate that, while Mr Blair was away, it was John Reid, the home secretary—rather than John Prescott, the increasingly pathetic deputy prime minister—who took charge. Only hours before the police decided to act, Mr Reid was giving a speech to Demos, a leftish think-tank, entitled “Security, Freedom and the Protection of our Values”. It was pure coincidence: Mr Reid knew of the police investigation into the plot, but not of the speed with which matters would be brought to a head. However, the speech could not have looked more prescient given what was to come. Declaring that Britain was “probably in the most sustained period of severe threat” since the second world war, Mr Reid laid into the opposition politicians, judges and media commentators who “just don't get it”.

In the days that followed, Mr Reid did what he does best: to convey both calm and menace with an aura of almost super-human confidence in his own ability. He may have overstepped the mark when he claimed that the police had caught “the main players”, but most concede his performance as warrior leader has been highly impressive. So much so that one member of the Conservative shadow cabinet reportedly described it through gritted teeth as “contemptibly brilliant”.

Some at Westminster now believe that the crisis has propelled Mr Reid into a position that might make him a serious contender against Mr Brown when Mr Blair goes. Given the propensity of the Home Office to poison the careers of those appointed to lead it, the fact that Mr Reid is now being talked of in those terms is in itself quite a tribute to his political skills.

He is indeed a much more interesting and complicated figure than the “attack dog” label pinned on him by Jeremy Paxman, a television interviewer, would suggest. A former communist (he says, “I used to believe in Santa Claus too”), Mr Reid has held eight cabinet jobs in seven years, including defence (see article). Along the way, he has become one of the government's most articulate exponents of what is now known as Blairism: muscular interventionism abroad and public services reformed by market disciplines at home.

What's more, in his gravelly Lanarkshire tones, he has the ability to express essentially right-wing policies in the language of Kier Hardie (the first leader of the Labour Party, who was born in the constituency he represents). Islamist terrorists, he says, are “fascist individuals” who are determined to destroy the “biggest achievements of democratic socialism”.

In the days before he took charge of the nation's security last week, Mr Reid was even hinting that the government might have to place a limit on immigration, saying: “We have to get away from this daft, so-called politically correct notion that anyone who wants to talk about immigration is somehow racist.”

The home secretary is still far behind Mr Brown in the Labour leadership stakes, but some Tories think that his brutally populist instincts could make him a more formidable opponent than the dour chancellor. Labour MPs whose hearts fail to flutter at the prospect of Mr Brown are also watching closely. What is certain is that events have given Mr Reid an opportunity that he has seized with both hands.

Gordon Brown is just another brilliant economist convinced that the government should tax and spend. Maybe Reid also fits that profile, but at least he has a spinal chord, which puts him several rungs above the invertebrates infesting the EU and other countries afraid to offend terrorists---yes, Canada, I mean you!