Poor Gordon Brown. He actually had (another) pretty good day at Prime Minister’s Questions – of which more later – but that won’t matter diddly-squat now … all the news is of the latest move by some Labour MPs to defenestrate him.
Yes, I know, it’s hard to keep up. In 2008, Siobhain McDonagh [who she? – Ed.] resigned from the Government, calling on Mr Brown to quit. In 2009, James Purnell resigned from the cabinet, calling on Mr Brown to quit. The result: nada, nothing, niet. He’s still there.
And now in 2010, former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt have written to all their fellow Labour MPs. To call on Mr Brown to quit? No, not quite. They just want a secret leadership ballot to ‘clear the air’. There’s political courage for you! Astoundingly, they even claim:
Strong supporters of the Prime Minister should have no difficulty in backing this approach.
Yeah, right.
Well, it all makes for nice afternoon’s excitement, and is at least a distraction from news about the snow. But it won’t happen. The timing’s wrong, and (as I’ve argued before), there really isn’t an obvious better candidate for Labour leader.
Full text of their letter can be found at The Guardian website.
Update: Nick Clegg’s Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander MP, has given his response:
Labour has given up any hope of winning this election and given up on governing the country. Labour MPs are now in a desperate scrabble to save their own seats and minimise their defeat.
“People have no reason to vote for a party that’s failed to deliver fairness, failed to fix the rotten political system and failed on the environment. The only party to vote for in the next election if you want a fairer society is the Liberal Democrats.
“The country doesn’t need a secret a ballot to get rid of Gordon Brown, it needs a General Election.”
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7 Comments
Absolutely daft – Brown may not have the charisma of Blair, but he is a better leader in my view, and certainly head and shoulders above any other eligible Labour figure (assuming peers are ineligible).
Titanic. Deckchairs. Rearrange
[This bit added to enable the comment above to be accepted]
Danny Alexander is spot on, and now is the time to attack them, as there are lots of votes waiting to be hoover up.
How many Labour MPs would have a secret ballot who aren’t fighting the next election? It must be a significant number
They are headless chickens! I rubbed my eyes in disbelief at their collective failure when they couldn’t find a way to dump Brown early summer 09. This Hoon-Hewitt moment is quite incredible. Truly – you could not make it up.
Say what you like about the LibDems, at least we know how (and when) to knife a leader in the back effectively… 😈
Is this the `Et tu Brute’ moment ? Will there be a national ballot or only a PLP one?
Does it really matter as the die is cast for those who allowed the `Big Expenses Scandal’ `Big Government’, `Big Bonuses for City Bankers’ and `Big Brother’?
The British People deserve a leader with commitment to fairness and will have the chance in Nick Clegg as opposed to one of two `Big Brother’ choices in Brown/Cameron – who both value power over people ..
The best Fair future for those worst off in Britain including all a fairer prospect for all pensioners,armed services,those struggling to heat rooms this winter to keep warm and those who closed our local post offices is only in the hands of Liberal Democrats.
It was Chris Huhne who has said that it is only the Liberal Democrats who want power to give it back to the people.
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