The longer the political negotiations go on, the more convinced I am that Labour must accept defeat and retreat into opposition.

The idea that a government could be formed by Labour, the Lib Dems and cobbled together minorities simply doesn't wash.

It would be led by a lame duck Prime Minister for a few months, then taken over by an unidentified PM the country hasn't chosen. Hardly the kind of stable, credible administration to take us through the grim economic times ahead.

Gordon Brown did the right thing yesterday. He stood aside and was dignified in accepting the country's judgement on him personally.

It is surely now time for the Labour Party as a whole to be magnanimous, go into opposition, and rebuild under a new leader to fight another election which is likely to come sooner rather than later.

A Lab-Lib-bits-and-bobs coalition may be a way of clinging to power in the short-term - but it risks a much longer period in opposition in the long-term.