British Chancellor Gordon Brown today made a joking reference to the "vacancy" created by Tony Blair's departure as he came under Tory fire over his stewardship of the economy.
At Commons question time, Mr Brown, who is widely expected to take over as prime minister in a few weeks' time, told MPs there were 600,000 vacancies currently in the economy.
"There's one more today actually as a result of announcements that have just been made," he added to laughter.
His comments came shortly after Mr Blair formally told his Cabinet he would announce his plans to step down as Labour leader and prime minister in a speech in his constituency later today.
