No nudges, no winks
This changes everything.
James Purnell's challenge to Gordon Brown is clear, it's explicit and it's a direct challenge to the prime minister to go for the sake of the party.
There is no code, no nudge or wink but one of the Labour Party's rising stars is now publicly telling the prime minister that he is the problem, that he will stop the Labour party winning the next election and that he will ensure a Conservative victory.
Mr Purnell, a former adviser and a current friend of Tony Blair's, has acted with the ruthlessness of his mentor.
He is telling the rest of the Labour party that they should now stop their private chats and make their minds up about Gordon Brown's leadership.
Lots of the party has been waiting for someone else to make the first move. The problem they faced was that many MPs felt they would be better off without Gordon Brown as leader, but all of them feared individually the cost to them if they were the first to say so publicly. James Purnell has now taken the decision to go first, to take the flak, to force others to make their choice.
The party cannot now move on and pretend that nothing is happening.
Gordon Brown may now rush forward his cabinet reshuffle in an effort to demonstrate that he has the support of the key figures in his party.
They now face a choice - agree to back their leader or join Mr Purnell in trying to sack him.
The man facing the biggest decision of all is the man who's stayed silent throughout this crisis - Mr Purnell's friend and the man he wants to lead the Labour Party, the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.
UPDATE 2346 BST: Well well. David Miliband has moved very fast to say that he does not agree with his friend James Purnell and will not be resigning.
I'm 
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Until there's a general election announced to sort out all this nonsense the country is going to remain in limbo, a laughing stock to the rest of the world.
Change is all that matters now, and it's only just a case of when. I just wish they'd all get on with it.
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Brown is desperate to hang onto whoever remains. After the rats have fled ship, he wouldn't welcome any more resignations, but there is one that must take place now. Jack Straw has apologised to the families of the two murdered French students and admitted full responsibility as Justice Minister, for the mistaken release from prison of one of the monsters who committed these foul crimes. The Senior Probation Officer in the case resigned last year, but he shouldn't carry the can alone, now it is Straw's turn. The families of the victims are going to seek legal claims against the British judiciary, and they are right to do so. It must be comforting for Brown to have Straw sitting beside him nodding his head like an obedient puppet, but the man is useless. Straw OUT, OUT, OUT!.
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And the saga gos on David M to Resign Tomorrow
General Election Please
Brown out!
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Will Gordon Brown act in the best interest of himself, the party, or the country.
The clamour for an election will grow if he goes, yet exactly what will we be voting on if that happens?
The Tories offer us no concrete policies, and Labour will be in the same boat with a new leader.
Sadly we seem to be entering an age whereby people believe that their votes and opinions can be actioned as quickly as their text votes to Big Brother, not based on considered thought, but on their reactions to the latest twist or turn in the media soap opera that is Westminster.
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Mr Robinson
Why does everyone including the Conservative and Libdems keep calling for a general election?
It is clearly NOT going to happen, why? Because Labour would lose. As my history teacher said NO government is going to change the way it was elected hence NO government would change the electoral system to PR when elected via first past the post. I think we can stretch this to NO government is going to call an election when they are going to lose - BIG TIME.
Everyone including Mr Cameron should accept this and move on.
The next question is whether Gordon will go. The answer is NO. He is so thick skinned and assured that he is the best person to lead us out of this recession that his ego would not allow it.
There is no choice for him.
There is nothing we can do except wait 12 months for the General Election, get used to it.
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Ironically Alistair Darling has GB's future in his hands...if he refuses a demotion and moves to the back benches, the prime minister is dead in the water...of course the same can be said for Milliband, but if i were AD i would get in quick to get my revenge..
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It never rains but it pours. Poor Gordon.
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What price loyalty these days?
This, just like the Blears resignation, smacks of a personal vendetta, and a knife in the back, hoping that their man - Johnson it seems - will reward them handsomely when the time comes.
I'm finding the whole thing sickening and it's only making Brown more sympathetic.
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This perhaps would be better in "A Tale of Two Letters", but for some technical reasons it seems impossible to blog on that thread.
I simply want to say that if Blears isn't cracking up, she is already cracked. What sort of person wears a "Rocking The Boat" brooch when she is supposed to be resigning from a very responsible position?
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Frankly I don't want Gordon Brown to go and I don't want a General Election anytime soon because he is The Opposition's best electoral asset!
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These guys are just a bunch of jokers! Who in there real mind resigns and send the letter to the press. Why can't this weasel of a guy go directly to his boss and tell him he is resigning and why.
This is a guy supposedly a close friend of Tony Blair who sent innocent people to their graves based on a lie. That says a lot about his judgement.
Please where do these politicians and their journo friends come from and what world do they live in! Only in Westminster a nonetity like James Purnell could come out of no where and try to unseat the prime minister to save his own bloody skin.
What exactly has he achieved with the works and pension portfolio other than spending his time plotting! These guys should be sent to the real world to do some work. jokers the whole lot of them
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Will someone explain to me, why a party in power, with the privilege and position to be able to do something about the recession and clean up politics is intent on imploding on itself? Doesn't serving the voting public and the country come before personal ambition and histrionics? I hear the latest one to go, a Labour "wet" and Blairite has been in close touch with journalists over his decision. Is the media running this country now?
If Purnell has political ambitions he is probably going the wrong way about realising them. If what I have heard is correct, he has presented one case to the PM and a completely different one to journalists. If his action does indeed have repercussions, he is unlikely to rise in politics in the future with a record of blatant double dealing, presenting one case to his party leader and another to journalists. Politics can be a nasty business and throughout history, those who are two-faced have come to a sticky end. Once the block, the noose, assassination or hanging drawing and quartering could have been the penalty. But today we are more civilised (thank goodness), it is just a reputation that is lost. Once down and out, we have the chance to tend our wounded pride and our gardens and pretend we are in the "best of all possible worlds."
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Milliband's decision to stay could be crucial in buying time. If he had held off on commenting until the morning then pressure would have built further. If Brown can survive until tomorrow evening without a senior cabinet member resigning then he could survive over the weekend and get the reshuffle done, in which case he might still hold on. But if one of the big guns goes before Monday then Brown will have to go then too.
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Apparently...Susan Boyle has phoned 10 Downing Street to see how Gordon Brown's doing!
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Brown's HMS Invincible...I counted them all in!...and then I counted them all out!!!
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Captain Brown's mutiny on the Bounty (thats now gone bust!)
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Brown's HMS Invincible...I counted them all in!...and I counted them all out!!!
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Brown's massacared in The Night of the Long Knives!
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Dear Nick,
GB has already stated he will not resign for the sake of the party because he is the party (In his mind i think).
GB to go and give Labour some sort of chance is not looking likey.
GB to stay and give Labour no chance is my bet.
Xxxx
ps,
I could be wrong so, 12 hours is a long time in politics.
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PS...I think the whole of the Westminster village is full of crooks!...sue me if you dare!
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Getting rid of Brown would be unfortunate. It would defuse the immediate crisis and thus allow the political class to dodge the real question, which is electoral and constitutional reform.
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There are plenty of members of the Labour Party who will be glad to see the back of James Purnell. Someone who should have joined the Tories in the first place.
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All day there have been rumours that someone from Brown's government would speak when the polling booths closed. I kept Radio 4 on all evening, looking forward to The World Tonight. I can't believe their misjudgement in going with a special broadcast from and about Poland.
Generally I would be very interested in another country's politics. But tonight?! When James Purnell was to publish such a momentous letter?
The team should have been at Wesminster to report news as it was breaking. Instead, a history programme was broadcast.
Nick, I turned on my TV and listened to you and others on BBC News Channel. The World Tonight team needs to justify such a strange decision.
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Harry Hill for PM...that's what I say!
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I am very happy to see the rose-coloured specs fall from people's eyes at last.
Hopefully this is not just the end of Gordon, but the end of the Labour Party itself.
I would love a general election right now - we would stand a fair chance of seeing Labour in 3rd place.
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With-in the Labour Party there is a lot of support for Gordon Brown. The question now is what vision for society do we have. Never mind what Party have you supported but when we come out of recession, how do we want things to look.
Do we want an end to greed and selfishness or do we want a move toward inclusion and community?
I recommend the Rieth Lectures this year.
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I wonder if any of Mandy's fingerprints will be found on the co-ordination of these resignations? Public support but private grudge?Devious people can do the most amazing things.
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Well, I expect that after tonight's results, combined with this resignation, Gordon Brown will likely resign within a week. Alan Johnson is probably the safest option to take over from him and will possibly call an election later this year. This might save quite a few seats.
I get the feeling that the Labour MPs want to see major losses in these elections, as it will give them the weight to remove Brown quickly.
I cannot understand why he does not accept the damage he is doing. Not only to his party but also to the governing of this country.
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not quite sure how this is going to go down - on balance, I think the Labour Party will back away from doing it - so, no new leader and no election this year - can't say I'm as certain of that as I used to be, however
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The good news just keeps on coming, if the rest of the Blairites desert, Gordon Brown is in danger of winning the next election - providing he makes the correct choices. He and Obama are now experiencing a universal truth; you can never and should never, placate a right wing politician.
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22. At 00:09am on 05 Jun 2009, mikerobbins wrote:
Getting rid of Brown would be unfortunate. It would defuse the immediate crisis and thus allow the political class to dodge the real question, which is electoral and constitutional reform.
-------------------------------
I agree fully
Parliamentary refrom is the only election issue!
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James Purnell resigning might actually help Gordon with Labour's grassroots support, Purnell was always the unpleasant surprise in the punch bowl, his proposals on welfare reform would have made Maggie think twice.
Brown is finished really though, he fired the party up to oust Blair, now he's discovering it's a lot easier to start them up than turn them off. I do find it faintly ludicrous that Brown's supporters are still blaming his problems on Blair, the fact is Blair's poll ratings were pretty much those of a long term incumbent PM, his "unpopularity" was a mirage, Brown has shot past Blair's unpopularity and explored whole new depths in his tenure, Brown has allowed Cameron to run rings around him in a way that Blair would never have done, Blair might have pulled it round, Brown lacks the charm and communication skills to even try. The sad thing is that it does look like he might have turned round the economy, and the Labour Government has in general been good for the Health Service and Education, but that has been buried under an avalanche of bad press.
So in will come Cameron, destroy our relationship with Europe, slash public spending and Britain's economy will absolutely tank in a way people can barely grasp at present, still, it'll be the Telegraph wot won it.
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James Purnell's expenses record is not whiter than white is it? There are many reason's why Gordon Brown is not a good leader or communicator, and one of them is not treating everyone who has fallen foul of the rules or the spirit of them equally. What is totally unnacceptable applies across the board.
However I do not see why he should be forced out as leader by those, who themselves face questionable times before the electorate. Instead he should agree with the other party leaders that those MP's who have abused the expenses system should be encouraged to step down by way of a number a by elections all to be held on the same day (to keep the cost down). This would no doubt produce a hung Parliament which would enable a Government of National Unity to sort out the expenses issue taking into account what the general public consider is a fair way of rewarding MP's who serve us - the stakeholders. Party politics and point scoring should have no role to play in that. If this means MP's working over the summer so be it.
Once a fair remuneration policy has been agreed, there should be a General Election in the autumn to be held with policies not expenses being the main issues.
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Brown is finished. For 10 years he somehow managed to build up this mystique that he was an intellectual heavyweight constandly being denied the front of stage by Tony Blair. It was a sham. In fact, Blair's biggest mistake was not sacking the most incompetent chancellor ever to have led this country and the one utterly responsible for bankrupting Britain.
Yes, Brown has finally had his come uppance and shown himself to be nothing more than a busted flush, but look what a price the country has paid for this indulgence.
The whole of Westminster is in need of significant reform. No ruling party should be allowed to change its leader midway through a term of office without calling a general election.
We need a system which enables voters to choose the prime minister. Our ballot paper should allow us to vote for the party, local candidate of our choice and party leader we want should our choice of party win, rather than be left to a cabul of self-interested politians.
We also need fixed-term elections of 4 years and remove the power of the ruling party to select a time, which benefits it rather than the country.
Also, the electorate should have the option of calling an early election if it perceives that the Government hass betrayed key election pledges, through a call-in mechanism triggered by a certain % in each region of the country.
Just changing government and bringing in David Cameron will not make a jot of difference. He and his party have no substance.
Oh, and in case you didn't realise, Britain is about to go bankrupt!
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This is no time for chicken hearted Blairites. Get into line Milliband and co or go (please) and while I'm here! why is that useless MP Flint still hanging around! Gordon flex your power and sack a few of the cuckoos. Flint first please!
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I must explain my strange calling name!
It used to be...
BankRSlicker...but somebody complained about it.
The root cause of all our (and New Labour's) troubles stem from New Labour's government policy towards the City of London...do your homework!
An end to 'Boom and bust'...my ar**
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With a very few honourable exceptions (Frank Field, Kate Hoey) I hope that Labour MPs in general and Gordon Brown in particular are thoroughly, thoroughly miserable tonight!
They might then get a very small inkling of how the rest of us feel. We've had our pensions stolen, our futures ruined and even our grandchildrens's futures mortgaged up to the hilt by the profligate spending and reckless borrowing incurred over the last twelve years.
Labour and Gordon Brown forgot many years ago that their first duty in Government was to the country as a whole, not lining their own pockets, not getting jobs for their mates, not using OUR money to bribe voters in their own constituencies in order to keep their seats.
Mr. Brown's first telephone call in the morning should be to arrange a 10am appointment with Her Majesty at the palace!
Call an election NOW!
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Post 14 I believe that both David Milliband and James Purnell are playing the long game but from different starting positions.
Purnell has cut himself loose from Gordon and told him to go. Purnell knows now isn't his time. He is still young and has a lot to learn. I can see him as the possible leader after next.
In his ideal scenario Gordon goes and Alan Johnson becomes leader. Johnson salvages something at the next election and perhaps saves 40 or 50 labour MPs. After a couple of years or so of Conservative government and the new labour MP's get to know their way around Westminster Johnson states it is time to hand over the baton to a younger generation to lead an reinvigorated labour party into the following election. It is at this point that Alan's trusty Lieutenant Purnell steps forward.
David Milliband is playing the loyalty card. He knows Gordon is dead in the water but doesn't want to be seen as the "Brutus" to Gordon's Julius Caeser. I believe Milliband sees himself as Mark Anthony who after the death of Gordon's PMship comes to bury not praise Gordon.
This way he rounds up the support of the Brownites and his own supporters as the "anyone but Alan" candidate.
I however see Purnell as the Octavian in the wings.
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I agree with some of the other comments - where is the loyalty?, do people like Blears/Purnell really think they are that important?, how is any of this helping the labour party or more importantly the government to focus on the economy? MPs are paid to help improve the country, I don't see how by resigning and trying to inflict damage on the Prime Minister they are helping at all.
I am not a labour supporter but I really want people to be challenging Cameron on economic policy. I have been dissapointed with the Conservatives response to the downturn as the general response seems to be criticise whatever the government is doing - even if some of it appears to be working. All these resignations by self important minor ministers is achieving nothing, and given the current issues that face the country really makes politicians look even more out of touch.
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Best demonstration yet of the insanity of the so-called British Constitution, with no separation of powers and an electoral system designed for the benefit of the politicians in power rather than the people. The one good that may come out of it is the break-up of the unitary UK. Sadly, England now seems so Euro sceptic that even a confederal UK seems most unlikely.
Post or reactive moderation for all except CBeebies, please!
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the soap opera just started, episode after episode.. they all remained quite till all came out to the public and now they all are staging a play so some go, but most remain.. so they can incorporate their friends..
all must go..
EU and MEP are manipulating the elections which just got less then 20% partecipation.. but they will increase proportionally, and claim 45% or so..
publish the MEP expenses, or allowances or whatever you call them.. let see if in the past they did comit fraud or crimes.. why EU is scared..
there is not democracy in EU.. even if you vote your vote can be ignored.. also, the EU is costing each person 500euro per year.. and what is they benefit 0.
if there is no EU, you will be able to save 500euro for yourself.. and not let your MEP or proEU payrolls buy TVplasma and adult movies with your money and even joke with you..
so, do NOT vote, but better do NOT pay taxes..
and ask for a bailout, and claim expenses.
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this is all a scam and a soap opera.
they are all in it, all have a finger in this scandal.
all of them must go.
vote for your friends, who will help you, not for politicans who dont know who you are.
if there was justice and morals, they will all be facing procecution, but the justice system is their friends.. they are helping eachother, and the police are partecipating in crime.. why there is no state.. because EU has taken all powers from our country and our politicans are hiding behind EU, they know EU well, but they dont care to know us.. and what we want.
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Thank you all for showing that political activism is alive in this world in a democratic society and that it is civil. The politics may be brutal but the response of the British people is wonderful to see. I am an American living in a western state that has its own drama but nothing like the political activity in Great Britain.
Good show and thanks. Thanks also to Mr. Robinson for his insightful political comments.
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It is interesting how commentators say Labour MPs are in effect desperate to look after themselves and their own futures in the job. This is in fact yet more exposure of the bad attitude of the political class. Selfishness. No principle. No morals. Got to hold on to a fat pay cheque first. Support any party leader that has the best chance of assisting this. No apparent concern to represent the people! How strange. LOL
These sorts of demonstrations show very clearly there is nothing constitutional the problem, no change any solution, it is the types that get ahead in parties and get seats. Ask not what a politician can do for the people, but what is in it for themselves. That is all they do.
Gorgon has it easy, any plotters can simply be told back him or he calls an election now.
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#5 "The Tories offer us no concrete policies, and Labour will be in the same boat with a new leader."
No and yes: the Tories are offering serious policies to deal with the HUGH debt burden inflicted on the nation (and the nation's children and grandchildren) by Brown and his minions; and Labour and their client groups won't face up to this debt, under Brown or any alternate leader.
The election should focus mainly on this problem (the expenses issue is 'small potatoes' compared to this). This election will be a generational break - for decades the debt has been piled up to pay for the bureaucrats, quangoes, benefits and pensions for the non-productive client groups supported by the Labour party. It must stop now ! In fact, stopping isn't enough - we have to CUT, CUT, CUT, back to the bone.
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#24 I don't know which version of Radio 4 you were listening to, but they did lead with the Purnell story.
I suppose the reason for the Gdansk special was the Polish election anniversary and the fact that the BBC never reports UK politics on election days anyway. (Well, hardly ever, unless somebody just resigned...)
The R4 live interview with Sister Harriet was priceless - playing the same old broken record about Brown being the best man to work his socks off at least 5 times, and then admitting she hadn't actually seen Purnell's letter even though she was quite sure it was of no real political significance whatever.
Surely there is only one NuLabourite devious enough to want to apply for GB's job now, and that's Mandelson. Gawd 'elp us all if he gets it, though.
Let's face it, Labour civil wars are WAY more fun than the boring Tory "men in grey suits".
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The remaining rats are coming out to support Gordy tonight. Ministers are paid a lot more than ordinary MPs. Obviously, there is no element of self-interest involved in the decisions made by these principled MPs.
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It looks like three factions are forming
1) The Optimists who think Labour can win an election with a new leader.
2) The Brownites who are too tied to him to abandon him.
3) The Pessimists who do not think Labour can win the next election no matter who leads. They want Brown to take the loss, and then they can decide on a new leader.
Gordon may be able to hold on if the Optimists are a minority.
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What sort of hysteria drives a senior minister to lose the plot so completely? How can anyone in his position seriously consider that either the country or the Labour Party will actually benefit from a general election at this moment? We've had enough lemming like stampedes over one cliff after another in the last two years. Let's try not jumping into a bottomless pit. Of course there may be the delusion that handing the current shambles to the Tories will quickly demonstrate their utter incapability to run a bath, and so hasten Labour's recovery. I doubt it.
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To quote a Private Eye cartoon from the 70s:
The Rats Leave the Stinking Shit...
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I find it incredibly difficult to comprehend how the very people that backed the coronation of Gordon Brown are now saying he's not suitable for the job. The party got it wrong with Gordon Brown and they'll probably get it wrong again with his successor. Meanwhile it's the people who these cowardly MP's are supposed to represent, who suffer. I also find it no surprise that it's the MPs mired in the expenses scandal who are now backstabbing in order to protect their own jobs. Their actions over the last month or so show that they look after themselves first, the people second, if that.
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James Purnell is correct in his analysis. And people trying to dismiss his actions as "Student Union politics" or "Not been loyal" are clearly deluded. It's the people in the cabinet who are trying to cling on to this sinking ship, not James Purnell. Labour is finished, so why doesn't Brown go now, and Labour can try and maybe gain what little credibility they have left by electing a new leader for the remaining time they have left, until a General election must be called. So by my understanding once you become an MP and cabinet minister you've got to agree with Ayatollah Brown, otherwise you're considered a lone ranger. Like Purnell said, without a change of leadership you can kiss could by to "New Labour". I'm guessing though you'll probably need to hire a welder to prize Browns hands of the railings at number 10 this time next year!
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Nick
Are you at all embarrassed about being paid so much while not delivering any scoops?
You seem to be a late commentator on everything (for ever chasing the wave), but you have indicated that you *do* have more information but (for what ever reason) are not prepared to disclose it.
If you are collecting information that you cannot use, do you think that maybe you are more suited to being a 'researcher' than a 'journalist'.
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When will people learn? Every Labour administration ends in tears and deep in the red. If you voted Labour you brought this on yourself.
It's only relatively recently Labour became the "second party", now they're going to be consigned to third party status if not the rubbish bin of history. Could any government have got it more wrong?
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So the grumpy, old, grey haired, dour Scot is having another bad day? Still, another night in The Priory and Susan Boyle should be fine!
You never see them in the same room do you?
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How utterly ludicrous that some "on their way out" corrupt cabinet ministers think they can effect the future of the government/party, all they seem to manage is to destabilize the current administration, although I am glad the tax payer no longer has to dish out wages to egocentric fools like Blears, Purnell etc, I have no doubt they will still receive some form of compensation/recompense. History will only remember the fact that Brown was undermined by a disparate few, not who they were or what they (claimed)to stand for.
As Jurassic 5 said "Either you're a part of the problem or a part of the solution. What's your contribution to life"
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Downfall. Except even Hitler had some who stayed loyal to the end.
Notsosilentmajority and Secretsciver I agree with every word. A general election is the only way to start to repair our broken politics and hence Broken Britain.
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Blog 36, XCAnderson concludes....."Oh, and in case you didn't realise, Britain is about to go bankrupt!"
What happens?
Does Alistair/Ed/The Rt Hon E X Chequer pop over to the County Court with £345 from the petty cash tin and declare us bankrupt?
Will the government then face the ignomy of appearing in the classified section of a remote local paper which is only printed every other Tuesday?
We'll then have to wait 3 years before we can start again - only this time, our credit rating will be so poor, we'll have to deal in cash only. My goodness what a thought! Having to pay for things up front.
Up front - there's an expression MP's aren't familiar with!
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Purnell is a little sneaky traitor whose parasuicide will not be mourned by anyone.GOOD RIDDANCE, JUDAS!
Milliband would be a disaster as he is a coward.
Darling would be dreadful.Johnston would be dreary.
Straw would be catastrophic, Harman horrendous.....
Really, Gordon is still the best man for the job, and the knives are actually helping him regain support.
Here is a memo to GB:
Gordon, you need to get on the telly with someone you like and tell us how things are and that it is back to business as usual......make a joke of being "the Scottish git everyone loves to hate ,but I ain't dead yet and if you think I'm bad ....wait and see what would happen if you vote Tory!"
You are getting the job done which is hard and unpopular but that's tough, it is the way it is.You are getting on with the difficult business of sorting out the parliamentary expenses(enter John Reid), the economy (time for a green shoots story?)and a chat from Tony on the telly praising Gordon would be handy too.
(TONY ,PHONE UP THE BEEB AND GET ON AIR PRONTO!)
We need some new measures.....what about restoring all the old ruins under threat,(not just Labour grandees).... what about a Let's make Britain Great campaign.....litter, graffiti and clearing out drug dealers and beggars from the streets.
What about a "nominate your local hero" campaign?
What about a new measure to make all savings under 50k tax-free?
What about a rise in inheritance tax thresholds to 500k.
What about a recognition of the hardships parents are facing by a 30% cut in university tuition fees for the next year?
It is also time to root out the traitors in your midst,Gordon.
An announcement of the shuffle decisions a few days before the press expects it would help.
You need to go on air telling the country that you are cleaning up the mess that is affecting every political party, that half of your critics who jumped were on the way out anyway and start looking as if you were a toughie and not a loser.
SAY THAT YOU HAVE NO TIME FOR TRAITORS AND HANGERS ON AND THAT ANYONE WHO MAKES ANY STATEMENT TO ANYONE IS FINISHED, IF THEY THINK THE BRITISH PUBLIC WILL PUT UP WITH A COUP THEY CAN FORGET IT.
Deal with the Tory gripes about Scotland....saying that yes, the English feel like an oppressed majority, but would they like to be Scottish?
Expose the threat to the Union posed by a hostile Tory party and the irreversibilty of a break up in the Union.
Acknowledge the dilemmas and controversies posed by an English parliament.
ANYONE WHO IS NOT HAPPY IS WELCOME TO RESIGN, THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WAITING TO TAKE THEIR PRIVILEGED PLACE..... SAY THAT BEING A LABOUR MP IS NOT A HEREDITARY PEERAGE AND THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE MORE SACKINGS NOT LESS!
And say to anything Cameron says,"Well he would say that wouldn't he, he wants my job but he is not blooming well getting it!"
Also a joke about dealing with the swine threat might be a good one.
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I met Alan Johnson during the Deputy Leadership contest - if he is the best that Labour have to offer as an alternative then I depair for the Labour Party
The question is I suppose, who else is there?
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Labour seem to be falling apart and failing Britian but if an election was called all other parties would be all talk and no action. I do not really think any political party would be running the country well if they were power because all the parties are trying to scam the tax payer as seen with the stupid expenses which people were claiming and as a result of this and other business most parties have lost important memebers. We need politions to stop thinking of themselves and how to get richer and start to think about the countries problems and how to solve them as they are meant to be doing.
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This has come as NO surprise, for the Labour Party is now only made up of those who want a change of Leadership with the view of trying to win the next General Election, and those whom ONLY want to ensure that they get paid up until Gordon Brown has the guts to call an Election which they ALL know that they are going to lose both not ONLY the General Election but also in the many Cases their own Seats as well.
Once an Election is called the Labour Party will proberly come in last place and my NEVER be a Political Party to be reckoned with again in the future, so Goodbye Labour RIP.
You won't be missed by the Poor, for there is not much you have done for them that really makes any livable difference to their lives given the Years that you have been in Power, and wasted these same Years big time.
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Its almost like the BBC and Gordan Brown have a deal he has a new story in the news nearly every week.
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Brown orchestrated a concerted campaign to topple Blair & he is now tasting a dose of his own medicine. The difference is that Blair, whatever one's opinion, did have charisma, an adept way of coping and international respect'. Blair's competence and charm were assets to the UK in the same way as Thatcher's toughness was and Churchill's inspiration was: the right qualities at the right time. Brown has the wrong qualities at the wrong time
Much has been made of Brown being candidate for worst PM ever: that title must be reserved for John Major, an intellectual pygmy without any sense of shame for the effects of his economic misjudgement on people and businesses in the UK. And Major was a hypocrite, having adulterous affairs at the same time as promoting traditional values.
Brown refers to his Presbyterian roots and values - does that include stubborness to the point of solipsism, hatred of his superior Blair and a coveting of the post of PM? I don't see much spirituality there and Brown displays his Calvinism in way that makes his Scottishness even more alien and unpalatable to the English majority electorate of the UK
In Brown's defence he does appear to care about the economic effects of the recession on UK people of unemployment, bankruptcy and stress - qualities never apparent in Major's premiership [one which he also initially inherited ]
In the short term Labour need to find a new leader then call an immediate General Election. In the long term Parliament & the UK Union needs reform - changing the members will not deal with the structural problems. The current set of Westminster players are a symptom not a cause of the malaise and that includes the oleaginous Cameron. Vince Cable looks like the only leader with the capacity to act without excessive narcissism
A system of more immediate and continous electoral involvement would ensure a TV Reality / Celebrity / Popularity show of hellish dimensions. The current UK electorate is largely a product of chav, dumbed down thinking; there is no deference or deferred gratification that can be called upon. Regrettably I see the only real chance of Parliamentary reform coming about during a period of benign dictatorship [based on the better examples of British Colonial Rule]. This is also the time to unhook Scotland from the Union, get rid of the Englishman's Burden of subsidising Scotland and restore English Independence. The English need to wake up from their political and cultural complacency which has lead to a Scottish PM, Chancellor and Speaker debasing the English political system. These actions would break the 'Dance of the Dumb' which persists between the UK electorate and their politicians. A country gets the institutions and politicians it deserves and right now the UK has hit rock bottom.
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So yet another government ends its days in farcical turmoil. It is not just the politicians. It is not even the parties. It is the system that is failing. Blair/Brown were elected by just 21.6 percent of the electorate. Early results from todays elections indicate that turnout is now below 40 percent. There is no legitimacy to our form of government nor can there ever be when every time more people do not want the so-called winners than do.
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anybody who doesnt vote should not complain about any government policy,point 1. point 2 brown is a disaster and will go shortly, but, then what? its the media that runs the country, its the media that forced the real elected pm(blair) to leave office.I would love to see the expense claims of the bbc published,we would be even more shocked ,no doubt.we need strong government ,a leader who can take on the media,and make decisions that benefit the country rather than the bbc.
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Although James Purnell's comments regarding Gordon Brown's status as a liability for both the Labour party and the UK ring true, after fifteen years of this brand of government I find myself thoroughly sickened by his triumphal crowing. For my sins I'm old enough to remember a spectrum of previous governments and to my mind even the monetarist excesses of the Thatcher years do not come close to the self-serving malevolence of this current one. I confess I voted for Blair in 97 and have had cause to regret it ever since; the past fifteen years have been an exercise not in government but in PERCEPTUAL ENGINEERING, creating a media fantasy world about how well we are all doing and then cramming it down people's throats until they forget to disbelieve it. Well some of us remember; the national health system is worse now than when Labour came to power despite billions being thrown at it; our kids are given a low-calorie substitute for education and parents are mollified with meaningless pieces of paper. Our financial system was built on a fantasy under this prudent chancellor, telephone numbers and monopoly money. And war, we have been led into bloody, criminal, immoral wars by these dishonest men and women. So when Purnell crows the values of the Labour I'm afraid it just leaves a taste of bile in my mouth. If Labour do not go now and let one of the other main parties take the helm the political system in this country will collapse under the weight of voter apathy. Go now, all of you, whilst Westminster has even the slightest hope of continuing to represent us.
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Lets hope Brown hangs on a little bit longer he is definitley the Conservatives best asset.
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Does Gordon Brown have no pride, humility or self respect? Time for an election before he becomes the most shamed (albeit unelected) PM in our long history.....
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Object to #66
I do not think that the majority of British voters are "largely a product of chav, dumbed down thinking;" although some may be. It is called 'democracy' and, whilst not recently apparent in UK politics, it is a system that works and should be respected! A General Election would be a step in the right direction....
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#34 Chad Sexington
I agree with most of your assessment. The Telegraph has done it's best to oust the PM before the embarrassment of the official expenses, still to be published.
There is still the other motive the Telegraph has, which is to destroy the PM who is persuading the countries of the world to close down tax havens. Who owns the telegraph, a couple of tax exiles.
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Gordon Brown is Cameron's best ally at the moment. If the PM does not step down Labour will lose the next election. If he goes now then the major obstacle to Labour being re-elected will have been removed and a new labour leader will have time to molify the country.
What a dilemma for the Tories. However, Brown's obvious overiding concern as to his own personal ambition, as opposed to the good of his party or the country, should see the Tories ok. He will dither, as usual, and leave it too late for Labour to recover in time.
Go now and call an election or stay until next year - he's doomed either way. Step down, call a leadership election and labour may have a chance.
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Good Morning Nick,
when on the Andrew Marr Show Gordon Brown more or less said to the Palace 'tell you what, get on the phone and I'll get the Queen on to the D-Day celebrations' and it was that moment that Brown was done for. It was his arrogance to presume that he was Head of State, that the Queen was somebody who had to ask, I could not personally believe it.
Brown is now having to juggle getting ready for a photo opportunity and trying to save his political skin. He is not up to it, coups always take place when the leader is away.
Blair was ousted after saying that he would serve a full term. Brown took over without an election, he has always lacked any legitimacy, as you sow so shall you reap, and revenge is something best served cold, I think that the game is up.
Let us hear that David Milliband is still foreign secretary after the reshuffle, he has come out supporting the PM. Can we take it that Lord Mandelson will not be the foreign secretary after the reshuffle. If Brown moves Milliband then it is over, Milliband is playing a very good hand. This is not a tragedy, it is is not Shakespearian, it is a farce, a tragic Whitehall farce.
Brown is finished, and as for Jack Straw and the blunders which have led to the horrific murder of the two young Frenchmen. Any decent PM would not let Straw resign, he would sack him, only he can't, for obvious reasons.
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One after another yesterday they were trotted out in front of the BBC and Sky cameras to support their bunkered leader, Mandelson, Harman, Byrne, the turncoat Woodward, Hattersley,Sir Stephen Pound and the Baroness on Question Time amongst various others. The line taken was as if they had all got together after a crime had been committed to ensure that they got their story right. The defence went something like this:
1. Gordon Brown is a very clever man who really works hard often burning the midnight oil. (Neither of these qualities guarantee success).
2. He made a good job of getting the countries of the world together at the G20. (Was he then the only one there and the only one who mattered? Was he solely responsible for organising the event?)
3. He scored a points win over David Cameron in PMQs yesterday and looked determined and in in charge. (a good enough reason to keep him in charge? I think not!).
4. He is the only man capable of steering the country through this economic mess which is a 'WORLD' crisis and nothing at all to do with him. (no mention of his loose regulation and reckless spending and borrowing which for years helped to stoke the credit bubble.
3. He is the only man who could have saved the world's banks. (Yeah right!).
4. There is noone in the Party capable of doing a better job (says a lot for his colleagues doesn't it?).
5. People are angry not only with The Government over the expenses issues but also M.P's of other parties and that is why they are going to do badly at the polls (no mention of any of his other policy gaffes).
6. A General Election right now would be unwise before the clear out of miscreant M.P's had been concluded.
7. Conservative policies are non existent and have nosubstance (no mention here of The Guardian column which in essence accused Gordon Brown of stagnating, having no policies and no vision for the future).
8. The resignation of Ministers was disappointing but they were all errors of judgement brought about by misreading the situation. Typical quote: ' -------- is a good friend of mine but in this case I believe he has been led astray by the situation.'
I rest my case.
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#73:
If The Telegraph had been as anti Government biased as you say I doubt the duck island and the moat would have seen the light of day until the end of June.
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Nick,
yesterday I was in some sort of different universe, I was watching the parliamentary debate on the BBC and it was something about defence. You know the MPs were talking about soldiers fighting and dying in Afghanistan, about all their efforts to defend their country. Also they seemed to be talking about Iraq and something about not having a mandate, and the navy and patrolling the straights, and do you know how many back bench labour MPs there were in the chamber, Liam Fox asked the question for the purposes of being in Hansard, there was one. One. One labour back bench MP, when every wednesday the PM reads out the names of the dead, and they all mumur and yet they could not be bothered to turn up to listen to John Hutton and defence.
That is why I am angry. It is not Brown or labour, it is the wars, it is this contemptible parliament, it is the government of the day which is finished. Brown is finished and it is nobodies fault but his own, he thought that he could just inherit the crown from Blair, a fatal flaw. So it ends, not with a bang but with a whimper, goodbye Mr Brwon, and good riddance.
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What we need is the next time someone is interviewing this buffoon they directly state the fact he the country has no time for him and he should go and when he responds in his wooden and perfunctory style they should continue to state the fact until his head explodes...
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Having been a party member for nearly half a century and leader of a large Council, I am extremely disappointed with the decision that James Purnell has taken, it is a misjudgement on his behalf. I am absolutely sure, having been out campaigning to today, listening to the electorate that the right person to lead this country through the recession and in the interests of not just the party but the Country I am in no doubt that Gordon Brown is the right person who will take us through the recession, the right person to sort the expenses mess out and the right person to be the Prime Minister of our Country
Marie Rimmer CBE Leader of St Helens Labour Group
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#76
what I think we have to do is to look out for people who simply assert something with little or no evidence. All the people coming out in support of Brown are simply making assertions, there is no actual substance to their argument. Our eyes have been opened by the revelations in the media about MPs, and government ministers and former ministers.
We have all been bound by ropes of lies and half truths. Now we are beginning to see that ropes that bound us are nothing but sand, they can be blown away, we will soon be free.
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# 66 BuffsRawlinson
"A country gets the institutions and politicians it deserves and right now the UK has hit rock bottom"
Yes, I think this sums up what's happened over the past few decades. Smarter people than me will be to explain the detailed cause-and-effect relationship here. However, it does seem that the UK's citizens and its political class have colluded - perhaps unwittingly - in allowing the economic, political and social fabric of this country to get the point where, frankly, it's wrecked. One could list a litany of disastrous failures in each of these areas of life in the UK today.
You can pick whatever measure you like, but there's little doubt that in the past 12 years, the UK's decline has accelerated at a most alarming rate. In 1997 the British electorate was hoodwinked by a superficial, policy-lite, political marketing campaign (New Labour) led by a vacuous but lethally charming politician (Blair), manipulated by spin doctors (Campbell et al) and with a dark, malevolent and incompetent weirdo (Brown) tucked in behind the scenes and in the most powerful role of all - holding the purse strings.
Ultimately, New Labour is and was always incompetent; it is and always was a sham. The chickens have now good and truly come home to roost.
Finally, if somebody doesn't move quickly to grip the economy then, believe me, our society and way of life is threatened; few people seem to realise just what an ocean-going mess Gordon Brown made of his time in power. It's astonishing that our political system can allow someone who is now, to all intents and purposes a dictator, to sit in Downing Street.
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#77 sicilian29
We'll see won't we, when the full publication comes out. Do we want our government decided by proprietors of a newspaper who take money out of our country.
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#80
Madam, your blog is the case that proves the point. So out of touch with public opinion. One local council election ward has announced a few minutes ago that the Labour candidate came home in sixth(!!) place.
Despite your defence of Mr Brown, he personally is the reason Labour is doing so badly, irrespective of protestations that he is "the best man for the job". The public, (yes, us that have a vote), do not think so.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
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Many thought David Cameron was poor in PMQs on Wednesday but I thought was very clever. By targeting Alastair Darling's position in the cabinet he caused a split.
Having briefed against Darling the party now had the thought of Balls as chancellor; very devisive. Brown's choice was now keep Darling and go back on the briefings. Or choose Balls and alienate many of the cabinet.
For the last few PMQs Darling sat next to Brown and looked miserable. On Wednesday he looked very relaxed and has been moved out with Shaun Woodward taking prime position next to Brown.
Darling is known to only want the Chancellorship. If he is deposed he will probably go to the back benches. Hmmm.
For Brown it is a no-win situation.
Purnell as a Blairite, has jumped before the above happens to position himself with backbench Labour MPs for a future challenge for the leadership. He won't want the poison chalice this time round.
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sicilian 76
That was a pretty good summing up there. I have a question for you do you think Brown would go for the revolutionary option and make Yvette Cooper Chancellor? They say she is in for a big job, and economics is the background she has.
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Absolutely agree with #6. This doesn't really change much. I still can't see a leadership challenge this side of the general election. Who would be crazy enough to want the job at a time like this?
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James Purnell has his own problems re expenses. His constituency now has two reasons to de-select him at the next election. His undeniable troughing, and his double dealing with the Prime Minister and three national newspapers. He may be looking for a new job sooner than he anticipates, or does he think his voters will thank him for what he has done. Nick's description of him as a rising star in the Labour party now looks somewhat hollow. Gordon Brown's 'et tu, Brutus' moment, will probably evoke sympathy in most right thinking people. I hope he survives, even if it is only until the election at a time of his choosing. Once this feeding frenzy is over, he can announce a date and end the constant clamour from the Tories and Lib Dems. Maybe then he can move us out of this limbo and get on and do what needs to be done. What the country needs right now is a period of calm so the government can govern.
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A general election will solve nothing. Until there's a full independent review of all MP's activities, then do you really know who you're electing to govern us?
This current situation has been spawned by a deal brokered between Tony Blair & Gordon Brown many years ago. If you have an unelected Prime Minister who governs us, not because of his talent, but because he somehow thinks he has the right to be PM then the present debacle shouldn't really be a surprise.
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The day after the cabinet meltdown and the votes are arriving too. It isn't going to be very pleasant reading for Brown. Does he actually have someone read the "tractor" figures out to him?
I will be quite happy for Purnell to repay the CGT he avoided by getting the tax payer to refund his advice
Maybe now that he has resigned from the cabinet he may have a little more time to do some cleaning in his home.
So, that means three tainted cabinet ministers have gone, so that should mean Hoon, Straw, and Darling should be close behind. Our great leader still hasn't paid back his allowances money either.
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Anyone so determined to become PM as Gordon Brown, how he fidgeted and grumbled impatiently throughout Blair's reign), was bound to be a disaster in the job. Please, Oh Lord, find us a PM who is not (even before they take the job) emotionally and psychologically unfit for the role. Let the people choose. That, after all, is how the Americans found Obama.
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Err....I forgot....That is how the Americans also found Bush.
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susan@ 66:
I suspect that Yvette Cooper will be our next Chancellor. A risky manoevre because she and her husband were earlier implicated in the expenses issue and there may yet be more revelations to come if she puts her head above the parapet. Add to that the fact that her husband isn't exactly popular with Labour M.P.s and I believe her appointment would be a gamble that may or may not come off. The added complicaton will be Alistair Darling who will be greatly miffed by the move and may prove to be a future thorn in his master's side.
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#3 not only should he resign of that appallng issues. There are many many more
1) Bady P
2) Craig Sweeney and all the other rapists muderers and peado's that have been let out of jail whom they think that they can rehabilitate
life MUST mean life for these people.
3)The total injustice of the Family Courts and the havoc that they have brought to this country
that is just a small list of why jack Straw should go.
Grow a spine and take some responsibility for your inactions.
Are they in governement BUT actually DO NOT know what is happening on there watch, at the least its incompetance which means they should go or is it by design ?
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Moraymint 82
Yes this is the point I have been making, they fiddle while Rome burns, it is the economy that worries me and on one seems to be getting to grips with the scale of our problem with Government debt. Looking at the latest figures and they will be by no means the true ones we are still spending far beyond what we are earning as a Country which is adding to our Government debt everyday. Printing money is merely propping that debt up. We need to make cuts and quickly in my opinion.
At least we will know what the electorate is thinking after today and Sunday. If the results are really bad for Labour maybe this will bring on an election personally I really do hope so.
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"I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our party a fighting chance of winning."
Hmmm, how about the country? Is there anywhere in his letter mentioning what is in the best interest of the country and the people?
Very telling.
Is this really for self-interests?
Are Tony and Cherie pulling the strings and directing in the background?
Politicians :-(
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Just listened to Nick Robinson on Today. The situation beggars belief. Do we really live in a democracy, or what? How can one man - Gordon Brown - hold the United Kingdom to ransom like this? Our country is in absolutely dire financial straits - we're on a course for bankruptcy - and a group of politicians play games with their jobs in Westminster. This is utter madness. I know it sounds ridiculous, but cannot HM The Queen intervene on behalf of her subjects? Or, what if the armed forces' chiefs resigned en masse? I can't believe I'm witnessing this.
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"If his action does indeed have repercussions, he is unlikely to rise in politics in the future with a record of blatant double dealing." - newtactic - At 11:54pm on 04 Jun 2009.
On the contrary, he is likely to rise in his chosen profession at an unprecedented rate precisely because of the qualities you mention.
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This 'cabinet implosion' makes me more angry than anything in the expenses scandal. These people are pathetic and more out of touch with the British people than anyone could possibly have imagined. The country is in the worst recession for 60 years, there's a war in Afghanistan, the NHS is at breaking point, the schools are in dire need of help, and what are the government MPs focusing on? "The future of the Labour party". Oh big DEAL. GET ON WITH RUNNING THE COUNTRY: THE JOB YOU WERE ELECTED - AND ARE PAID - TO DO. And the Tories are no better - Cameron baying for an election like a blood-thirsty hound. He should knuckle down and figure out how he would do things better.
If I went to work today and instead of doing my job spent the whole day thinking of how to oust one of my colleagues, I would be fired. And quite rightly too. Because I wouldn't have been doing the job I was paid to do.
I apologise for sounding so angry. But I really am now. It's simply this that I want to say to MPs: We pay your salary. We are your boss. Get back to work instead of squabbling like tiny children.
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is it that GB peronality that he might call an election himself and give the turkeys an early chritmas present.
Ps moderatore there are swear words on this blog that you have missed. Where the i has not even been replaced by a 1 like on mine about Balls and Cooper ? Selective moderation ?
Surley it easy just to run a word search automatically over each post to make you jobs easier. If you need any help I can be hired for this type of work
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#34. Chad Sexington
So in will come Cameron, destroy our relationship with Europe, slash public spending and Britain's economy will absolutely tank in a way people can barely grasp at present, still, it'll be the Telegraph what won it.
Reply: Chad, Im afraid that Public spending will have to be slashed anyway, whoever gets into No 10.
As I pointed out in a previous thread, it shouldnt be that difficult given the sheer wastage of Gordon Brown & his paper pushing & non productive schemes.
We have borrowed more money to bail us out than fighting WW2, & that took us until 2006 to repay the Americans for their contribution.
It wouldnt be so bad if it was being wisely spent on infrastructure projects that would gear the country up for our eventual recovery, but it isnt.
We are seeing some favourable signs from housing price rises & a small rise in consumer confidence, but I should think so too given the huge cash injection we have burdened our children & grand children with.
Of course the Government conveniently forgets that they will have their own recessions to deal with, but hey thats their problem, right?
So we are already back to live life now & get somebody else to pay back later thinking.
Mean while job losses continue.
I have a horrible feeling that the turn around you speak of will be short lived, & then what will happen?
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I don't know the motivations of James Purnell so I will have to take them at face value and, on that basis, I have to say that I agree with him.
At this moment it is very difficult to see Labour winning the next election, whenever it comes, but the Labour party is likely to be a lot weaker under Gordon Brown than without him. I think that a weak Labour party in opposition would be a disaster for the country because a weak opposition results in weak government.
While I really don't have a high opinion of Gordon Brown, this really has nothing to do with his abilities (or otherwise). He has lost the confidence of the country and is seen as clinging on to power at any cost, which will result in electorial anhialation for the Labour party when the election comes. At least a new leader going to the country might limit the damage.
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Those that think there is no chance of an election before next year are wrong. I agree Brown is thick skinned and desperate to hang on, but if a couple more cabinet grandees go that will be it. It is time for some ministers to consider the country rather than their own skins, whilst Labour will undoubtedly lose an early election I think if they cynically hang on to the last gasp the anger will result in complete annihilation at the polls. Some Labour ministers will be well aware of this.
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Mr Brown needs to understand one thing.
You cannot, after the financial crisis and the political crisis, say that all that is necessary for the PM to do is to 'get on with managing the crisis'.
The PM's job is in the public eye and he needs to communicate with them regularly and cogently.
I am simply amazed that he cannot see this.
Yes, having an incompetent idiot who can dazzle the media would be disastrous.
But if he wants to work solidly behind the scenes, he should be a Permanent Secretary, not Prime Minister.
He had better sort out his priorities pretty quickly and either move onto the front foot or move on.
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I watched this unfold last night for a couple of hours. 10pm the announcement is made, between 10pm and 11.30pm all the politco journos are getting their face on the tv telling us that this is different, this is "the beginning of the end for Brown" etc etc, by midnight the orchastrated Downing St response was kicking in and everyone was saying that Purnell is wrong and Gordon is the right man etc etc. Did you notice how a lot of them were reported to have said the same thing, word for word (do you think they were all sent the same script?)
Like most of the people in the UK at present, I think politicians are in it for themselves full stop. They can come out with all the election time speaches they want about "serving the people" etc, how stupid do they really think we are? They are all in it for themselves and last night Labour cabinet ministers and MPs had a decision, and it was simple:
1. Be honest, get Brown out (I haven't got enough room to type all the reasons he shouldn't have been PM in the first place), go to the country, probably lose my Job as a MP definately lose my Cabinet post (where applicable)
2. Tow the Party Line, shut up and suffer, pick up another 12 months wages.
Guess what personal greed won again over "serving the people".
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I think Dave Cameron must be worried. He did his best to go easy on Crash on Wednesday as he obviously recognises Mr Clown as the man who will lead Labour into the political wilderness like the Canadian Conservative Party. Dave wants either an election NOW or for Clown to continue hanging on, looking ever more ridiculous.
I think he'll be gone by Tuesday - whether Labour can elect another new leader, NOT go to the country and still retain credibility remains to be seen. It's their only chance though.
Like the earlier respondent I feel truly sorry for Frank Field and Kate Hoey who appear to be decent people trapped in a Party which has deserted them.
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The once decent Labour Party has succumbed to the Blairite disease and the parasites are crawling from the guts of the languishing beast looking for another host to infect.
Brown is mortally wounded and should go, the Labour Party needs a period of convalescence.
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sicilian 93
Well seems I was wrong then Darling is to stay. I think this shows how weak Brown now is.
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Miliband knows he cannot win....and he doesn't want the crown of thorns. Only Johnson is daft enough to take it. He will do so given the opportunity.
Darling is staying as Chancellor, so that'll be Balls' nose out of kilter. If Miliband stays as Foreign Secretary, we will know Brown is finished.
In just one week,a radical reshuffle becomes a soft-shoe shuffle.Amazing.
notbornyesterday.org
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#11
"Frankly I don't want Gordon Brown to go and I don't want a General Election anytime soon because he is The Opposition's best electoral asset!"
An extraordinary thing to say, are you implying that Labour could actually win the next election - or at least an election held within the next month or so - or is there an even greater threat to both government and the main opposition party(s), the latter is certainly a possibility and some might argue probability.
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Hooray!!!!!! No more Blears, no more Purnell - for now.
Wonder if they'll go back to where they belong..... the Tories?
As for Brown, surely some university in the States will have him for a while - he'd be perfect.
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TAG , I watched that in horror too!I did'nt realise that they don't bother their backsides for anything other than to ya boo hiss at the opposition during PMQs and vanished like snow off a dyke for anything else.
Not often I agree with Ms Croft , but she is correct in her worry for the economy.
While it would seem the media is doing its " save Gordon and the Labour Party " best , what the hell is happening elsewhere?
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GB will continue as though nothing has happened...this is his normal way of dealing with things...today we will see a reshuffle...AD still in place as he has refused to go (so much for Gordon being in charge) Gordon will say he is concentrating on helping "hard working families"... and life goes on as before...but for how long?............ until the IMF arrives?
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I actually think there is some logic in not having an election or making leadership changes until the whole sorry mess of expenses culpability is sorted out. However, I have to accept that I am in the minority and, guess what, we live in a democracy. Yes, we delegate power to the politicians but when they are clearly so out of step with the mood of the country (right or wrong) then something needs to give.
Gordon Brown wants to sort out the economic mess but, guess what, the country does not want him to be 'the one' that does that. They want to give someone else the chance. And, even if I thought he was the right man for the job (which I don't), his ability to do so would be severely hampered by lack of public confidence.
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#12
"Why can't this weasel of a guy go directly to his boss and tell him he is resigning and why."
Sending a resignation letter to the boss is a long standing acceptable way of resigning, the fact that a copy was also sent to the press was just pre-empting a FoIA disclosure...
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Milipede is the consummate coward.
Purnell has stated he isn't interested in being leader - he does, however, have the balls and backbone that is required for the job.
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What a shambles.
No other word for it.
But isn't the English language wonderful when you need it?
Complete and utter shambles.
Call an election
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Forgive me if this has already been said by someone, haven't the time to speed read 100 odd previous comments: If Darling is staying in number 11, as is being reported by the BBC currently, will this also mean that Browns interference in the Treasury will end - Darling having already made it known that he was prepared to leave the government, should Brown interfere again, Darling might just decide that enough is enough and we all know what happened to Thatcher when senior members jumped ship. Brown is in office but is sure not in power this morning...
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'Darling to stay as chancellor'
Well thats two fingers to the british public right there
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The idiot Brown is leaking news of his re-shuffle.
Why?
Is this not the equivalent of General Custer providing a few battlefield promotions?
Brown - your leadership has been challenged. Either resign or stand in a leadership contest. Everything else is futile.
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"David Miliband... does not agree with his FRIEND James Purnell...".
These creatures don't have "friends". They have rivals, some of whom may be able to do things for them, so require courting.
When I see expenses fiddlers of the calibre of Blears and Purnell leaving, I almost begin to suspect that there may be something of merit in Brown.
Mind you, it's just a trace of a suspicion. Meanwhile, all at Number 10 must dread the Postman's knock.
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#97:
I share your frustration, but the sad fact is that it's not just one man. There are 300-odd Labour MPs who are complicit in Gordon Brown's delusions that he's still capable of running the country. Sadly, very few of them have the cojones to do anything about it.
We do live in a democracy. The problem is that our democratic representatives aren't representing us. They will pay for this at the next general election. But since they know they're going to pay for all their other lies and incompetence anyway, their main interest is in putting off the general election for as long as possible.
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Alan Suger knows jack................
He's a Brown supporter and has no idea what families are going through in terms of jobs, mortgage payment problems and retirement funding problems, all bought about by his pal Browns policies.
Does Mr Suger have a nice retirement fund YES, has his pension fund been destroyed by Brown, NO.
Does Mr Suger have trouble paying a mortage, NO.
He should keep his opinions to himself when he has no idea what the man/women on the ground is experiencing.
Cabinet members are now manouvering to try and safeguard their seats because the election is coming!
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Labour is sinking at the same speed that our debts are rising. I presume this relationship is scientifically proven as it seems to be repeated throughout history!!!!
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One WONDERS what level of THUGGERY IS GOING ON BEHIND THE CLOAKS OF
DECEIT in DOWNING STREET. ALL THOSE LATE NIGHT SILENT CALLS TO LABOUR
PARTY ACTIVISTS.
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80.
"I am in no doubt that Gordon Brown is the right person who will take us through the recession, the right person to sort the expenses mess out and the right person to be the Prime Minister of our Country"
Marie Rimmer CBE
Concerned Brown Emissary?
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GORDY IS A MERE POLTROON?
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Gordon Brown is the sort of man who if he had a leg amputated would still go out and buy a PAIR of shoes - that is, he refuses to face reality!!
If men in grey suits wont lead him away then perhaps men in white coats will have to
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well well well it was just a matter o time. As a nation, as in UK as whole we have seen calamity after calamity, no leadership, no focus what so ever, no resolve other than via the ballot box, and that goes for Scottish Parliament as well.
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the fact that Mr darling looks like staying as chancellor says it all, he stated last week any attempt by brown to move him to another dept would result in him quitting the government. so who has won that wee battle I wonder???
Sid
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IMHO, the most important point was not made by James Parnell's resignation, but Senior Labour backbencher Barry Sheerman, who said there should be a ballot of Labour MPs to see if Gordon Brown still has the confidence of his party.
Barry also said "This goes far beyond just a few people, this is a large number of us who are really unhappy about the present situation."
Those who apply Poweromics* often use 'threats' to create 'fear' in those who try to question them, and Gordon, and his close aides at number 10 (e.g. remember Damian McBride ...), must be really pulling out the stops now !
We do not even have a 19th Century democracy at the moment .. even secret ballots of confidence in the leader cannot be done even his party ! ... and those who utter any concern are immediately 'punished'. Democracy - what democracy? ... it's a farce and we need to be given 21st democracy*, starting with a general election !
Gordon Brown - moral, ethical, someone you can trust ... this is rapidly becoming the biggest 'joke' ever ... except it's not a joke (not for us anyway)!
The rumour is Gordon is looking to rely even more on 'celebrity' and 'spin' now - the sign of a man desperate for votes, and someone who's devoid of values and ideas (remember Charles Clarke's previous comments on this subject) ... we should never forget him - and never forgive him ... as it is he who continues to bring the UK to it's knees ...
He may have 'faith' ... but few have 'faith' in him.
David Clift, a Future 500 Leader and Poweromics* blogger
* Poweromics = People using position and power for their own personal gain, based on poor moral values, self interest and greed. Take a look at http://poweromics.blogspot.com for more information.
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These squabbles over the Labour leadership are like the officers on the Titanic arguing over who's going to get to wear the captain's hat.
It just shows how out of touch modern career politicians are - we need them to focus on our beleagured economy and to work at helping the electorate rebuild their broken trust in parliament, and all they can do is try to advance their own careers.
It's pathetic.
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Here is a nightmare scenario.............
Brown falls on his sword, accepts he can't carry on. (yeah, dream on)
Johnson wins an uncontested leadership contest.
(Milliband is a wimp and never a contender -he is a casual bystander, jacket-holder and yes-man)
Johnson is now Prime Minister, says he will call an election in 100 days, meantime he will try to stabilise the ship and thinks he is entitled to do so.
Johnson makes a big noise about kicking out Hoon, etc. etc. and no special sign-off bonuses by anyone that his inquiry deems has been troughing.
Balls consigned to a cupboard somewhere, Darling remains as Chancellor.
Johnson doesn't bite the bullet on public sector cuts, and puts the Royal Mail to one side.
In a September election, Nu-Nu Labour have recovered some self esteem, so we get a hung parliament. Tories and Labour not far apart, Lib-Dems don't get as many seats as they hoped, and a whole load of splinter single-issue independents get their new seats but not really the balance of power.
Result- no change to a corrupt system, no decisive action, no sorting out of the banks, no day in court, no-one held accountable for the past decade, but still loads of new money being printed for the banks to sneak out the back door. Disaster.
The best hope for the country is that Brown scrabbles together a cabinet of the dull, anonymous and mediocre, and stutters on through the summer. (....getting on with the job...) No-one in Westminster Labour dares to stand up against him.
Then meltdown and a quick election.
We want it all sorted, not just Brown removed.
As an aside, why isn't Clegg seeking defectors? That is what he should have been doing for months if he has any dreams of power-sharing.
Well, thats because they (MPs) are all useless, they are hopeless strategists and couldnt organise a 5-a-side kickabout..
Regards,
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The Government would have no legitimacy if they changed Leader twice within a term, Brown either stays or we have a General Election in the Autumn.
I do believe that there should be some mechanism that when a Prime Minister is forced out for reasons other than ill health, constitutionally an election should be called within 6 months.
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... in government but not acting like government. What a sad, sad state of affairs.
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Well I couldn't have been more wrong. Gordon Brown didn't have the balls to remove Alistair Darling and Alan Johnson takes on the poisoned chalice of Home Secretary. How soon before he becomes embroiled in contentious issues and loses his chance at leadership?
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#69 furyofpatientmen. (Nu-Labour's legacy)
Troooo, and well put.
This has been a wasted decade and a bit.
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It's OK Peter Mandleson from Slytherin House has stated that Gordon is Calm and collected and the cabinet is behind him.
Peter's word is his bond you know.
Images of Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf with American Tanks behind him come to mind.
Oh Blimey now he's using Hazel Blears old scripts, with the old what people want now is for us to get on with Good Government.
Delightful.
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WILL THE HISTORY BOOKS VIEW THE CLINGING TO POWER AS SIMILAR TO THE LAST
DAYS OF NAZI GERMANY?
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This debacle underlines the need for a mechanism whereby the public can register a vote of no confidence in a government, triggering a general election.
Obviously there would need to be safe guards to stop minority interest groups triggering an election every 2 weeks.
The current situation where a failed government can limp on until the very end of its term is frustrating and ridicululous. Does anybody beleive that Gordon is hanging in there for the good of the country?
It purely for his own ego.
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Gordon Brown would have been better off getting rid of all of Blairs cronies the most recent being Purnell not one of them is a true Labour person they are all Thatchers children and all lack moral fibre. It appears most realise that Labour may indeed lose the next election and they will lose their seats and the gravy train will cease.
Gordon sack the lot before it's to late and get back to being a Labour Goverment and not this so called New Labour
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Gordon Brown is the best person to lead this country through the current economic crisis which is affecting the entire world why cant people see he is a man of integrity after all what is the alternative - David Cameron is no Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair for that matter. Without Labour we would have no minimum wage, workers rights, legal holiday entitlements, freedom of information etc etc, people so easily forget what it used to be like.
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Brown will attempt to hang on to power till they take him out back and shoot him, which a lot of his underlings would like to do, but lack the courage of their convictions. In Soviet Russia where most of them got their political leanings, it would have been a fait accompli and an election would have been on the way.The higher echelons of the Labour party , who are a thoroughly unprincipled bunch will support him rather than face the wipeout that is in the offing, in the forlorn hope that " something will turn up ". Where people of the calibre of most of Brown's sychophantic followers are concerned, anything is possible , and nowhere is too low for them to sink.
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What Brown or his colleagues just DO NOT GET is that WE THE PUBLIC WANT BROWN OUT.
Keep on looking inward as to who might or might not support him in this present appalling government is irrelevant.
Brown has one agenda and that is his own. He is ruthless, bad tempered and has his personal ambition as the most important thing in his life. He is driven by his "New World Order" / "Globalisation", sinister and scary but that's the nature of the man.
He doesn't care about the British, least of all the English, people.
If he hangs on until the election next year he will be so weakened that a Conservative victory is assured.
if he stands down in favour of a replacement from his shower he will incur more wrath from the public because it would be yet a second UNELECTED LEADER.
Pshhhhh! Somebody tell him please.
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What I think could be very interesting is if Gordon Brown decides to take the Labour party out with him if he quits. I am sure he has enough dirt on them to do even more damage to the party.
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#6 Kellybasher, you are of course right, there is no chance of Crash Gordon calling a general election, he will wait until the last possible minute.
The rest of your post was interesting though. Given that things will get a lot worse this year, by the time the next election comes, Labour will be facing the prospect of being the 3rd party, with the Lib Dems likely to be the main opposition. Wonder if that changes the chances of electoral reform.
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Post expeneses, Question Time is becoming predictable and boring.
Apart from knife crime, last night was mostly taken up by the speculation and gossip surrounding Brown and his cabinet. Granted it is the headline news but there are economic and foreign issues which need airing as well.
Besides it's almost impossible to get senior cabinet and shadow cabinet members on the panel now, few in government are keen to appear on a public forum.
Baroness Royall (how did she earn her peerage exactly?) for a former Blairite gave a convincing performance in her support for Brown. She also does a very good impersonation of Catherine Tate.
I can't believe Fiona Phillips was offered a place in a "government of all talents"? Desperate times indeed.
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What a RE-SHUFFLE this is turning out to be -
Darling still has the purse strings
Straw is left clutching Justice
Lord Slippery still has Business
The Heir Apparent is gifted a High Office of State - (Keep your friends close, keep your enemies even closer!)
So, well into the RE-SHUFFLE and 75% have remained in situ.
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This morning on TV I saw a Labour MP asking for a secret ballot of his party's MPs to give their verdict on GB. He said "Labour MPs should have this opportunity". Such arrogance! As if the only people who matter are Labour MPs! The electorate should be given their voice right now, and we can be rid of this train crash of a government.
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The only thing it changes is 3 of the expenses named have quit the cabinet because Brown couldn't fire them
It should mean that there needs to be less Blairites in his cabinet
Another year should see complete annihilation of every vestige of the Labour Party
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boilerplated @ 110:
What I should have said is 'one of the best electoral assets'. There are many other reasons why The Government will be annihilated at the polls and I don't believe there is a chance of a Brown recovery either in the short term or the long term. I suspect that he will hang onto power until as long as possible. I don't go along with any of these wild media claims that he could be gone within a few days but you never know. The Local Council results will be a good indicator and may be so bad that he has no alternative but to go.
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Let's hope Brown holds on....
I'd like to see Labour completely annihilated and cast into political oblivion.
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i have just heard an interview with the assistant editor of the SUN...he gives GB five days at the most... Well if the SUN says that....goodbye GB!
If he does survive we will have a government where the Chancellor of the exchequer hates the PM..where the Home secretary is waiting to take over from the PM.... where Ed balls hates Alistair Darling......where Peter Mandelson hates everyone...where David Milliband is keeping his powder dry by pretending to be loyal....etc etc.......
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Dave Millibland says on BBC that "There are no easy decisions". By the extra grey hair on his head, he must of agonised over his position for all of 20 seconds. Portillo got it spot on last night. The cabinet held all the aces and Milibland was the key. He's just consigned us to another year of The Broons. Final chance of a coup rest with the Parilimentary Party who's position will be strengthened if the Local & Euro results are worse than expected.
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Nick
Next time you are invited in for a 'chat' with our great leader, please can you ask (probably best before the hairdryer) if he is still stands by his statement that he is not interested in celebrity as I am sure I sure a certain East End Barrowboy, Siral, leaving Number 10 yesterday and saying that Gordon is the best person to lead the country?
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142. james1935 wrote:
Without Labour we would have no minimum wage, workers rights, legal holiday entitlements, freedom of information etc etc, people so easily forget what it used to be like.
=
It's highly unlikely that Cameron will make the same mistakes the previous Tory government made. Spending will have to be cut by whoever is in government, but advancements in social equality can't be reversed. One would hope. It would be suicidal of them if they were not to learn from the past.
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I just don't get this 'best man for the job' argument which is being put about by so many in my view blinkered Brownites. The man has made a total pig's ear of running the economy, controlling immigration and crime and in so many other fields of government. The nasty Sir Alan Sugar putting his oar in doesn't help. He is one reason I avoid The Apprentice like the plague. He didn't actually do a brilliant job of running Tottenham Hotspurs. That other Brown supporter Piers Morgan I hold in equal contempt.
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Looks like the Labour "Go Fourth" campaign will be successful...behind the Tories, Liberal Democrats and UKIP?
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142. At 09:41am on 05 Jun 2009, james1935 wrote:
".....Without Labour we would have no minimum wage, workers rights, legal holiday entitlements, freedom of information etc etc, people so easily forget what it used to be like."
Yes, the Labour government has done some very good things (as well as some very bad things). That is why it would be a disaster for the country if Gordon Brown further destroys the Labour party by clinging on to power. All of the 3 major parties have both good and bad ideas but it would be a disaster any one of them was in power without a strong opposition to hold them to account. This is what is likely to happen if Gordon Brown does not lance the boil by going now.
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139. At 09:36am on 05 Jun 2009, alexander-curzon wrote:
WILL THE HISTORY BOOKS VIEW THE CLINGING TO POWER AS SIMILAR TO THE LAST
DAYS OF NAZI GERMANY?
----------------------------------------------------
Will history view this as the crassest, most egregiously tasteless comment on a BBC blog ever?
I do wish people who object to a Labour government would stop using comparisons like this one and Zimbabwe it is fatuous, utterly without any basis in reality and insulting to the people who had to suffer and continue to suffer the very real horrors of those two regimes.
Having an economy in recession and a leader replaced mid term does not on any level equate to systematic political violence, murderous fascism and the slaughter of millions, for gods sake get a grip.
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Purnell has completely and utterly blown it, just as Miliband did last year.
However, this is hardly the point. His resignation letter begins "We both love the Labour Party." Brown, he says, should go "for Labour's sake". Not the country's sake. Not the people's sake. Not even the sake of the "working class". Labour's sake.
Who on earth do these people think they are? What world do they think they are living in? Thanks to their decade of betting against the future, the economy and the country are in crisis. Thanks to their disdain for Parliament, the constitution is in crisis. And all they can think about is their wretched political party.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with socialism, the Labour Party was founded by people of conscience. They are spinning in their graves.
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Johnson as Home Secretary?
Old Crash is sticking with the time honoured principle of "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer".#
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Wow. Parliament is now starting to resemble episodes of Dallas, to the chagrin of voters marginalised by this bizarre soap opera.
Gordon Brown is looking more and more like Mugabe, determined to hang on to power no matter what, even when his own cabinet have no confidence in him. Labour are in between the devil and the deep blue sea, if they get rid of Brown, they will be torn apart by in-fighting. If they keep him, he is a lame duck, and they are doomed to electoral assassination, which they probably will be, even if he does fall on his sword.
Grim times ahead indeed for UK PLC, and hardly a beacon for our democracy.
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Gorgon Brown will remain leader of Labour, because quite simply, nobody wants the job. Millibabd and Johnson don't want to take on this poisoned chalice at the moment and be remembered for taking their party to a humiliating election defeat. Blears and Purnell must live in a fantasy world if they think their resignations are more than tomorrows chip wrappings.
Anyone who believed Balls was going to take Darlings job has clearly forgotten the Balls/Cooper expenses have not been published yet. Gordon Brown may be a misguided bungler, but he isn't stupid
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#119 more like one finger
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Jack Straw - OUT! OUT! OUT!
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At the rate people are jumping ship the Cabinet will pretty soon be inquorate unless of course Mr Brown does a "Bremner" and races around the table impersonating his long lost "friends".
But what good would an election do? Cameron will pretty soon wish he hadn't won (if he does), and with no real Opposition in the HoC there wouldn't be any healthy debate or worthwhile bank bench input. We really need to sort the mess in Westminster and our democracy before we even begin to think about alternative government. A few criminal charges and the resignations of a whole host of MPs would be much preferable in making sure this kind of mess does not happen again.
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Just look who are still hanging on Brown's shirt tails, or perhaps Brown hanging on theirs. No wonder the BNP gained more voters yesterday. Think about it!
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Milliband is clearly terrified of losing the Foreign Office to Mandy. And, boy, does Mandy want to Lord it in there!
Might happen. Bring in a big hitter and put Lizard Boy in his place... Communities Secretary? That WOULD be funny.
Must be tempting for Big Gordy.
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"Of course there may be the delusion that handing the current shambles to the Tories will quickly demonstrate their utter incapability to run a bath, and so hasten Labour's recovery"
Labour have been great, haven't they. I bet with all the talent they have on their benches, they could improve this 'shambles' as you put it - beyond all recognition.
I do wonder why they seem so utterly incapable of doing it right now, though.
I personally have no idea if the tories would be any better, but I'd rather they came in, and see if they make a difference, than watch this lot who I can clearly see will only make things worse.
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# 144 flamepatricia
Regarding your comment about Brown's agenda and his personal ambition let me just expand on this as you are spot on with that summary.
I'm a Scot, living in Scotland and I have no problem in being honest about his intentions and how he sees himself.
He is typical of the majority of Scottish Labour poliicians whose only agenda is to further themselves and their careers at Westminster at the expense of all others, including their constituents. Brown has no shame, he has no compassion, he has no social conscience. He is nothing more than a mercenary politician and like all mercenaries he doesn't have principles and is only in it for peronal gain.
I'm ashamed that he is a Scot, and there is a gathering mood in Scotland that is slowly waking up to what these Labour politicians are all about.
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ooops GB just lost another one...John hutton resigns....!
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Come to think of it, who needs the Labour Party? It has no ideas, its vision is based entirely on outdated class envy, and its agenda, far from being "progressive", is entirely negative. Its instincts are to shrivel individual initiative and level down to the lowest equality of opportunity in the name of a "justice" which, from the days when trade union patronage ruled the smoky back rooms to the present, when political science graduates mistake the manipulation of appearances for the assertion of direction, is to socialism what the Queen Mother was to synchronised swimming.
Imagine a two-party system of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Such a system would at the very least be more grown-up than Labour's childish posturing. And above all, it would be constructive.
Wipe Labour from the face of the earth, and let's get on with real, constructive consensus politics.
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#162 Worked for Julius Caeser (well not quite)
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CHAD SEX 160
CIVIL LIBERTIES SPRING TO MIND?
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Interesting to HEAR Jack Straw passing the BUCK another clinging to
REWARDS FOR FAILURE & MINISTERIAL PERKS. . .
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As I said before on Nick's excellent newslog. We can judge MPs by their actions rather than their words when all has been revealed over the expense/allowance abuses.
Purnell's resignation from the cabinet, which he appears to have discussed with the press in preference to the Government, reminds me of the methods of the media-orientated and spin-obsessed Blair-led Government.
Is Purnell unaware that, apart from voters generally, it is the grass root party activists and volunteers in all parties who are angry about the expense/allowance exposures. They are working on their party's behalf and giving lots of time for nothing... many of them for years, only to see their candidates milking the system.
When all financial claims are revealed, we can judge our MPs. The information will further empower the voter. Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes. We and his constituency can judge Purnell by what he has done and how he has done it. It strikes me as being naive to blame the PM for dissatisfaction with Labour, when the entire party is bearing the brunt of the expense/allowance exposures, merely because it happens to be in power.
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160. At 10:08am on 05 Jun 2009, Chad Sexington wrote:
139. At 09:36am on 05 Jun 2009, alexander-curzon wrote:
WILL THE HISTORY BOOKS VIEW THE CLINGING TO POWER AS SIMILAR TO THE LAST
DAYS OF NAZI GERMANY?
----------------------------------------------------
Having an economy in recession and a leader replaced mid term does not on any level equate to systematic political violence, murderous fascism and the slaughter of millions, for gods sake get a grip.
------------------------------------
My turn
a) well, systematic political violence could be construed as poisonous emails, sent to destabilise the opposition. All based around lies. It's only a small step to duffing people up in back alleys, if they thought they could get away with it.
b) Murderous fascism, I am sure if he were with us Dr. David Kelly might have a word or two on the subject.
c)Slaughter of Milions...well let's just ask the people of Iraq what they think about that shall we? Particularly whilst we sit on our hands and watch Zimbabweans ritually slaughtered.
There is plenty that this government has done in the last 12 years that borders on the outrageous and puts it on very shaky moral ground. They do brook no criticism, maybe not to a Russian level but there are similarities in style and control.
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#105. branditony
I agree with you here.
It must be a big thought in the minds of Ministers at the moment.
Yes im pretty sure im going to be kicked out at the next Election & Brown is a real looser, but if I hang in there, I might just be able to screw another years Ministerial salary out of this before I push up the political daisies.
Im not sure they are all in it for themselves, but the further they slither up the greasy pole, the further removed from reality they get.
Browns at the top & cant see the woods for the trees.
This whole sorry saga is so reminiscent of the final weeks of Thatcher, but this should be no surprise given that the quality of the MPs characters isnt much better.
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Labour have learned a lesson from history - by not descending into the highly public backstabbing that finished off John Major and the Conservative Party, they do seem to be containing most of their infighting.
However, the party is caught in a cleft stick. If Brown continues to be backed, then his unpopularity will ultimately lead to a significant, if not massive, defeat in a GE. If Brown does not continue to get backed then he will be forced to step down and a GE will soon be on us, at which point Labour may just possibly recover and stay in power, or perhaps be lightly defeated.
The problem is that not backing Brown has an unpredictable outcome. Backing Brown has a much more predictable outcome.
If Brown stays on, it will be his ultimate responsibility that Labour are defeated in the GE and that his time is past. Labour will be in the wilderness again for 20 years and will come back cleansed once more.
If Labour are returned to power - where will Brown be and what will he be doing? Hardly bares thinking about. He may try to make a come back.
Sorry if I'm giving anyone nightmares.
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160
"WILL THE HISTORY BOOKS VIEW THE CLINGING TO POWER AS SIMILAR TO THE LAST DAYS OF NAZI GERMANY?"
No - similar to Thatcher maybe or Major. Even by your standards this is utter drivel. I think you and flame pat need a break in the Priory.
173 Who needs Labour? Just think of Cameron and Clegg for a second - "The Self-Righteous Brothers". Surely you can see through them?
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178 purple angel
WELL SAID!!
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#171
Gosh. I would have loved to have been in your position to say that!
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Actually, I do have a practical suggestion for Brown. Once he's finished shuffling his cabinet, he should have his front door painted in a more cheery colour, I think it will help when it comes to all the OBs done from The Street. The colour would lift the mood of the country and show the PM is in fact in touch with his people.
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Nick,
the most interesting one for me is John Hutton. I have been asking for an inquiry into the Iraq war for some time. He has been the minister who actually came to the commons and admitted that previous ministers in his role as Minister of Defence had given information to the House which was not actually the whole truth.
It is Hoon who should go, it is Darling who should have gone, it is Mandelson who should have been foreign secretary, it is Woodward who will be the Minister of Defence, Flint needs a new job, as does Bradshaw, as for Straw, he should have been sacked because of what happened in his department over the murder of the two innocent French students. Back to the BBC news cchannel, Brown in the meantime should be preparing to meet real heroes.
There is the idea circulating that Alan Sugar will go to the House of Lords as and Enterprise Tzar, please answer me why? Who actually has voted for Lord Mandelson, who is to talk about serving their country, the only people who should serve are those who have a mandate, that in our representative democracy people should be elected by the people, not just given a peerage. Disgraceful
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GB will ensure a conservative victory, if he stays!? I think that was ensured a long time ago, even though they're equally useless at the moment. All that McCavity, doing his disappearing trick, can ensure is the difference between an historically massive defeat & the eventual complete destruction of the Labour Party. Yes, it is that bad, now. He won't say it, so that's Purnell's nudge & wink. He's being far too gentle with GB. Purnell's act is not ruthless enough.
c.u. Jimmy Purnell changes nothing. Still, nobody's thrown GB an utterly devastating one, out of leftfield. A plain, old, "Get out, or Labour's dead as a political entity, for all eternity". Until then, Gord will pay it no attention & continue until the bitter end. When everyone else has deserted him, it will make no difference, even then, because he'll still be in charge, moving imaginary armies around in his Berlinesque bunker. Let the Labour Party leave him. They can set up a new one, but without the baggage of stubborn Brownites. Take out GB's closest henchmen & then you're in business. Come on, Nick, kick Balls. Or even, come on, Balls, kick Nick! Mandy & Carrie can just have a quiet sulk in the corner. This has gotten far beyond sly, gentle or girlish conduct. Well & truly tooled-up, skin-headed, hatchet-man territory. Oh, if they only had a Bill Hague or Chingford Norm. It'd hardly be their saving grace, though.
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#178 it does if you come from a purple protest arena, where unlawful arrest and detention and denied access are endemic
anyway Sir Alan Sugar to be another TZAR is this because he cannot find
MP to serve with him.
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Laughatthe TOFFS
Even Major/Thatcher knew when the game was UP.YOUR GUY THINKS HE's THE
MESSIAH. PRIORY MAYBE THE BEST PLACE?
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142. At 09:41am on 05 Jun 2009, james1935 wrote:
Gordon Brown is the best person to lead this country through the current economic crisis which is affecting the entire world why cant people see he is a man of integrity after all what is the alternative - David Cameron is no Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair for that matter. Without Labour we would have no minimum wage, workers rights, legal holiday entitlements, freedom of information etc etc, people so easily forget what it used to be like.
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Another first time poster - another 'best man for the job' line, nothing new there.
If you're listing 'without labour we'd have no' items, then how about:
without labour we'd have no ID cards.
... no cctv on every corner, and probably in our living rooms soon
... no secret handover of power to europe
... no war in iraq
... no worries about my pension
... no need to work until I'm 70
... no need to interview university entrants with 15 A*s who can barely string a sentence together.
... no gettos of foreign workers in our towns
... no plans for a database containing my dna, daily travel habits, and probably voting plans.
... no bribed underclass
... no hugely bloated public service we can't afford
... no confusion between the words more and better (see the resignation letter yesterday suggesting we need more not less regulation - no we need better regulation, just like with labours spending)
you think Brown has integrity - I beg to differ - he's just one huge ego.
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Nick,
the problem for all these people coming on to the media supporting Brown, and that he is the right man to take us through the economic crisis, and the recession, and everything I hope that the BBC are keeping copies of everything they say and then when it all collapses play it back to these people.
This is absolutely pathetic. We know that Brown wanted Balls as Chancellor, oh yes we do, and you know it as well. So what sort of PM can it be that can't even move people to where they should be, notably Darling should be consigned to the back-bench.
Mandelson will now be a problem because he was going to be Foreign Secretary, oh yes he was and you know it as well, so now what, he has 'Lord' Sugar as Enterprise Tzar, so what now. I would advise Brown to cancel his day trip to France, over by next week, oh yes it will. Because some day soon somebody is going to have to pay for all this, through their taxes.
When MPs talk about jobs, it is their jobs, their careers, and their income that they are really worried about. Remember, Darling had a mortgage with Northern Rock!
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Noooooooooooooo!
Not Cooper as work and Pensions!
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177. newtactic wrote:
"Purnell's resignation from the cabinet, which he appears to have discussed with the press in preference to the Government, reminds me of the methods of the media-orientated and spin-obsessed Blair-led Government."
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So what has changed under Brown? McBride, Watson, Mandleson....
Now it's all the Blairites' fault, nothing to do with Gordon, who just "happens to be in power".
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You can't make Cooper Work and Pension minister!
Not Just Like That!
Pa Ha ha ha
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sicilian 157
I suppose everybody will have to go around calling him Lord Sugar now like he insists he is called Sir at the moment. I guess all us lowly people will have to stand up when he comes into the room they just about have to do that now. These unelected people who can be bought with peerages it just disgusting. If this is the kind of support Brown goes for things must be desperate. I cannot bear Alan Sugar I certainly will not call him Sir. Would he be so close to the Labour Party if he had not got his Sir from them.
As to Brown being the best man for the job of PM, we are in Government debt up to our eyeballs, increasing everyday. I do not see him making any decisions to get us out of what he caused in the first place by his spending policies and lack of regulation of the City. It is frankly ridiculous to say he is the right man for the job.
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NEW UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES: NEARLY 1 IN 10 MP'S OUT OF WORK
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Apparently the Telegraph are sitting on hot stuff that could smash up The Tories' chance of being elected to power ... and are waiting until after a General Election to let the cat out of the bag....but can they keep a secret?
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ramona-trilby # 24
I can't believe their misjudgement in going with a special broadcast from and about Poland.
WildGardener # 48
I suppose the reason for the Gdansk special was the Polish election anniversary.
Actually, the reason for the broadcast was because June 4th 1989 marked the 20th anniversary of the first free elections in the former Warsaw Pact, signalling the end of Communist rule in Poland. Solidarity defeated the Polish Communist Party leading to a return to "democracy" in Poland and the demise of the USSR, leading to the reunification of Germany. In other words a pretty momentous day unlike the navel gazing in Westminster. I`m sure the BBC planned to mark this occasion well in advance and all credit to them for doing so. Events dear boy, events...
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
194. Susan-Croft
I suppose everybody will have to go around calling him Lord Sugar now like he insists he is called Sir at the moment.
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Hello Susan,
Afraid my comment #198 was removed as it was rather rude. I was responding to your remark. I will put what I wanted to say in polite terms. When I was a child, we used alliteration when referring to Sugar. We used another word (rude) and said "Alliterative word plus Sugar" I may not be everyone, but that is what I will call him!
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All these harsh words directed at the Government and the Prime Minister, but how may contributors actually took part in the political process. Either by working for a candidate or delivering leaflets, knocking on doors, talking to people?
Does anyone think this blog actually achieves anything? Nick Robinson's roles here is rather like someone walking into a pub making a statement that fuels anger in those sat around having a drink and then walks out, so no one can question what he says.
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Jack Straw - OUT! This traversy of a Minister of Justice is responsible for the shambles which is the judiciary here in Britain. French families are suing them for the murder of their innocent sons who died because of the inefficency if the system here. The Chief Probation Officer of London had the decency to resign, but Straw like his Master has glue stuck to his pants. Brown is so desperate to have enough ministers to shuffle, that he will not sack this wretched man. We should have an honorable Minister of Justice who employs decent, honest judges and other legal officials, who are born and bred in the tradition of British fair play. and are not political or politically correct nominees. Jack Straw - OUT!
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