On Monday the Chancellor told the Commons that the blank cheque for bailing out Northern Rock was now exposing the taxpayer to the tune of £24bn, with the potential to go to £40bn. That's almost half the cost of the NHS.
On Tuesday we had the astonishing admission of the loss of 25m individuals' personal data by HM Revenue & Customs. Alastair Darling apologised, but blamed a "junior official".
On Wednesday the Prime Minister said there was a "dispute" between Revenue & Customs and the National Audit Office's account of events. But that afternoon the PM and Chancellor's story began to unravel, as release of emails showed that senior officials had been involved and that sensitive data had not been stripped out because of the expense.
Then on Thursday five former defence chiefs accused the Government of expecting our over-stretched armed forces to operate on a shoe-string.
Finally on Friday a report into the bungled privatisation of the defence research agency Qinetiq warned it had been privatised too cheaply.
The competence of the Government is now in serious doubt. The finger of responsibility can be pointed at Gordon Brown.
This is why last week's opinion polls also showed the electorate's faith in Gordon Brown's economic competence has collapsed.
