A song at the top of the hit parade one year ago talked of ‘Bleeding Love’, but this year Gordon Brown is spending Christmas thinking of something else.

Since the government’s admission to the loss of personal and financial data of millions of Britons in late 2007, Gordon Brown’s 2008 has gone progressively downhill.

Last month an internal HM Revenue & Customs report revealed that “our internal processes are flawed and rooted in the 19th century.” It turns out that while using 21st century technology, the processes used hadn’t changed fundamentally since 1900.

Now, enraged citizens have turned the Christmas holiday shopping experience into what a Hamley’s executive referred to as “A Black Christmas.”

Yesterday, in the middle of the pre-Christmas shopping spree, the capital’s transport systems came to a halt as protests by an estimated one million people around Whitehall were joined by London tube staffers.

It is estimated that 50,000 shoppers were marooned in London last night. There was panic and confusion around central London stations as the disruptions spread outwards along train lines from central London to the suburbs.

Blame has now extended beyond Revenue & Customs and been laid squarely at the door of the Prime Minister. The British have finally decided that ‘the buck stops here!’

In an age where privacy is already a major concern – there is said to be one CCTV security camera for every three citizens in Britain’s major cities – the government is being viewed as abusing the people’s trust.

‘Big Brother’ phobia is rife. Beyond calling for Gordon Brown’s resignation, the word ‘impeachment’ has started appearing on protest posters.

The knock-on effect will set the UK back 10 years. In an age of open markets and perfect consumer choice, that will be truly catastrophic. Britain faces a Black Christmas, and everyone knows exactly who’s to blame.