The Curse of Opik.

Oh Dear:

The curse of Opik struck the Liberal Democrats again yesterday when freezing fog left the leadership candidate Chris Huhne stranded 200 miles from his manifesto launch.

Lembit Opik, the asteroid-hunting Montgomeryshire MP who was Charles Kennedy's last supporter before backing Mark Oaten's ill-fated bid for the top job, had offered to fly Mr Huhne from mid-Wales to London in a private plane.

But Mr Opik, a qualified pilot, said yesterday that low cloud, cold weather and the threat of snow near London meant he could not take off in his twin-engined Britten-Norman Islander plane - forcing Mr Huhne to resort to a train, which then got stuck, and finally a car. He delayed the launch of his manifesto until the afternoon, finally arriving at an environmental action centre in west London to set out an agenda focusing on values such as the environment and localism.

The full trifecta of planes, trains and automobiles.

The worst thing that can happen to a politician. People start laughing.