Who said politics was "boring" - Alistair did.

There's more on than the pages of one newspaper can cope with today, as usual. Salmond is in town for a Joint Ministerial Meeting chaired by Cameron, Danny Alexander and Osborne will be outlining their spending review, there's stuff about drilling regulations for the North Sea, last day before Labour leadership nominations close, and on and on...

In the middle of all that Alistair Darling has admitted that he is "bored" with life in opposition. After taking the country through the most severe economic recession in a generation he's finding himself kicking his heels and not knowing what to do with himself, he tells the Financial Times today.

The former Chancellor, who spent 22 of the last 23 years on Labour’s frontbench, said he wants to take "time out" and has already indicated that he will stand down from the shadow cabinet later this year.

In the interview 56 year old Darling said that he was "decades away from putting on his slippers" and laughed off the idea of taking a job with one of the banks he helped rescue in the credit crisis of 2008.

Writing a book about the financial crisis is a possibility, he admitted, but he will not rush into print.

The Edinburgh MP also revealed that he advised Gordon Brown against a deal with the Lib Dems after the election and that he has spoken to the former Prime Minister a couple of times since the election.

Darling said: "He’s reflecting. But you can only look at the sunset over the River Forth for so long".