2 Big Stories

From the Guardian, Gordon Brown’s great escape:

A chastened Gordon Brown yesterday promised his backbench critics that he would learn from his mistakes, as he survived Labour’s worst national election results since 1918 and some of the most personal attacks ever mounted on his governing style.

At a private inquest staged only hours after the party came third in the European parliamentary elections, with less than 16% of the vote, a rebel attempt to call for a secret ballot on his leadership was seen off by party loyalists.

Speaking to a packed meeting of Labour MPs and peers, Brown adopted a humble tone, saying: “Like everyone else, I have my strengths and weaknesses. I am going to play to my strengths and address my weaknesses.

“No doubt I have much to learn about a collective way of leading the party and the government. I have to learn how to be a full-time prime minister and a full-time leader of the Labour party.” He said he wanted to stay leader, not for its own sake, but because he had a mission.

The Labour rebels claim to have 50 to 60 names expressing no confidence in his leadership, but after the meeting they decided not to publish the list, in essence abandoning the revolt for the moment.

But a rebel source said: “The issues which led to the parliamentary party’s concerns all remain and the issues will not go away.”

From the Telegraph, European elections 2009: Europe’s centre-right declares war on Conservatives:

The Tory leader has angered the European People’s Party (EPP) after pulling out of the grouping to form a new Eurosceptic bloc called the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Mr Cameron’s pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon European Union Treaty, if it remains unratified by the Irish by the time of a British general election, has also alarmed the Brussels establishment as Labour goes into political meltdown.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

The five stages of Parliamentary Labour Party Grief
Ali Goldsworthy at Freedom Central on the Labour Party’s current journey through Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

On the dilemma facing reshuffling cabinet ministers everywhere, Mark Pack asks: What should I take from my old job to my new job?
Good luck as you start your new job today, Mark, but please find time in your lunch hour to churn out dozens of posts for Lib Dem Voice…