Will Brown Survive this Time?

Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt are asking for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party to decide on Brown’s leadership. Will the PLP move against Brown this time after numerous opportunities have been missed??? The letter is set out below. Guido Fawkes has claimed he was the first to break the news so hat tip to him!

Dear Colleague,
As we move towards a General Election it remains the case that the Parliamentary Labour Party is deeply divided over the question of the leadership. Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance. We have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot.

This could be done quickly and with minimum disruption to the work of MPs and the Government. Whatever the outcome the whole of the party could then go forward, knowing that this matter had been sorted out once and for all.

Strong supporters of the Prime Minister should have no difficulty in backing this approach. There is a risk otherwise that the persistent background briefing and grumbling could continue up to and possibly through the election campaign, affecting our ability to concentrate all of our energies on getting our real message across.
Equally those who want change, should they lose such a vote, would be expected by the majority of the PLP to devote all of their efforts to winning the election. The implications of such a vote would be clear – everyone would be bound to support the result.
This is a clear opportunity to finally lay this matter to rest. The continued speculation and uncertainty is allowing our opponents to portray us as dispirited and disunited. It is damaging our ability to set out our strong case to the electorate. It is giving our political opponents an easy target.

In what will inevitably be a difficult and demanding election campaign, we must have a determined and united parliamentary party. It is our job to lead the fight against our political opponents. We can only do that if we resolve these distractions. We hope that you will support this proposal.
Yours fraternally,
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt

Brown Cuts

Shrinking Economy

The UK economy shrunk by 2.4% in the first quarter of this year which is the fastest rate of decline in over 50 years and is a damning indictment of the way the Government has managed the economy over the past 12 years.

All those comments by Gordon Brown that we were as a country better placed than others to weather the economic storm sound foolish to say the least. But what is even more worrying is the continued talk by Brown of trying to spend his way out of recession at a rate which will burden the country and taxpayers for decades to come. How will any future Government pay back a national debt to £1.4 trillion which is what we are likely to be left with if Gordon Brown has his way?

Labour MP’s Celebrate Defeat!

Yesterday I wrote that Frank Field among others was encouraging Labour MP’s to rebel and put Gordon Brown out of his misery but besides a few MP’s it seems that most aren’t prepared to put country and/or party before office/salary. Paul Waugh has written about Brown’s meeting last night with the PLP which clearly shows that most of Brown’s troops are prepared to criticise him behind his back but don’t have the bottle to do so to his face. What the clapping and table thumping was for is a total mystery. After being routed in the local and European elections and allowing the BNP to gain two MEP’s, I’d have thought they would have shown a little remorse and humility instead of behaving like a football crowd celebrating an important goal.

It’s a bit like the CEO of a major company coming to a shareholders meeting to explain why the company has made a loss of millions only to be greeted by a standing ovation!!

And then they wonder why people won’t vote for them!

Frank Field Encouraging The Rebels

Frank Field MP has been typically candid and written a post on his blog which won’t be well received in Downing Street. He writes:

‘Labour cannot win with the present Prime Minister. I was one of the seven who would not support his coronation after Tony Blair was shoehorned out of Number 10. But even I didn’t think a Brown administration would be as inept as this one. [Ouch]

The Brownites are attempting to terrorise Labour MPs into inaction. If they succeed then we deserve our fate.

It is simply absurd to argue, as does No. 10, that the next leader must call an immediate general election. A new leader, when being invited by the Queen to form a government, should inform the Monarch that he or she intends to return in April of next year to call for a General Election on May 6.’

Brown Clinging On!

The cabinet reshuffle is in full swing and Gordon Brown clings on for dear political life. After the devastating comments from James Purnell in his resignation letter more Cabinet member resignations were expected but this hasn’t happened yet.

I still believe that Brown won’t survive. Once the election results are in and backbench Labour MP’s realise that they have little or no chance of holding on to their seats with Brown in charge, they will act and sign any email or letter put in front of them asking Brown to stand down.

The Email That Labour MP’s Should Circulate

What the text from the email circulating amongst backbench Labour MPs would contain if those circulating were honest and had any balls:

Dear Gordon,

Over the last 12 years in government, and before, you have made an enormous contribution to this country and to the Labour Party, have comprehensively dismantled and destroyed the golden economic legacy you inherited and have burdened this great nation of ours with gigantic amounts of debt which will take decades to pay off and this is widely acknowledged.

However, After scheming, conniving and plotting for ten years to become party leader and Prime Minister, we hope you are able to appreciate and acknowledge our scheming, conniving and plotting against you. And we are writing now because we believe that in the current political situation we cannot hold onto our seats at the next general election with you in charge. And you can best serve the Labour Party and the country our own personal and selfish interests by stepping down as party leader and Prime Minister and so allowing the party to find a new leader to take us into the next general election because only under a new leader do we have any chance of holding on to our seats. You have screwed the country, please don’t screw us.

Yours,

The End is Nigh

Tomorrow is polling day and if Labour is given not only a bloody nose but as expected a knockout blow it seems inevitable that Gordon Brown will quit as PM. Even if the election results aren’t as bad as expected, I believe that by next week Gordon Brown will face a leadership challenge. Brown has no leadership qualities, he reacts to events far too late and constantly dithers and isn’t up to the job of PM – he plotted and connived to become PM and has ruled by fear ever since and has never commanded or deserved any respect.

Through his incompetence he has taken the Labour Party to the brink of electoral annihilation which his MP’s have remarkably only realised now and it is therefore an absolute certainty that MP’s desperate to hold onto their seats at the next election will move to have him ousted. The fear factor has gone and with Cabinet member resignations being announced such as Hazel Blears this morning before the expected reshuffle, so has collective responsibility. With each day the case for a general election grows stronger as Brown’s government grinds to a halt with no policies being implemented, introduced or even being thought of. The Government is in limbo and the PM and his Cabinet unable to effect any change.

Today the Guardian has a damning editorial on the PM calling him to go. It says

The tragedy for Mr Brown and his party is that his chance to change it has gone. Although he still purports to be a radical, he has adopted the caution of an establishment man. He cannot lead a revolution against his own way of doing government, and yet a revolution is necessary. Grandstanding on his claims to good intentions, the prime minister demands the right to carry on, even as the cabinet implodes around him. The home secretary, the chancellor, and perhaps even the foreign secretary may go, and Labour faces its worst defeat in its history on Thursday, but the prime minister does not recognise his direct responsibility for the mayhem.

The truth is that there is no vision from him, no plan, no argument for the future and no support. The public see it. His party sees it. The cabinet must see it too, although they are not yet bold enough to say so. The prime minister demands loyalty, but that has become too much to ask of a party, and a country, that was never given the chance to vote for him…He is not obviously able to lead. He blames others for failures and allows them insufficient credit for successes, as the current dismembering of Alistair Darling’s reputation shows.

The next seven days will be crucial to Britain’s political future. Jacqui Smith’s pre-emptive resignation yesterday was the start of a reshuffle that Mr Brown may be imagining will defend himself from terrible election results. He is heading for the bunker. If Labour holds off now, at perhaps the last moment when a change of leader might be possible, it had better reconcile itself to sticking with its leader to the bitter end. … During the next few days it will become apparent whether Mr Brown still commands sufficient support among his parliamentary colleagues to carry on. If he suspects not, he would win much respect by announcing that he will be standing down, and let his party choose someone who can use its remaining time in power to reform parliament and then fight the election with credibility.

The case for a new leader has been made stronger by the expenses crisis. Labour needs to enter the next election having reformed parliament. But Mr Brown will never do it. The prime minister was absent from the start of the debate and cautious now he has joined it. His instinct is usually to hesitate, and to establish reviews and commissions

And it concludes with

Labour has a year left before an election; its current leader would waste it. It is time to cut him loose

Cut him loose, call an election and give the public the chance to vote out a tired, stale and useless Labour Government.

The G20 Talkathon

President Obama has strolled into Downing Street and Gordon Brown has been grinning as best he can in the hope that this shot will be splashed all over the papers tomorrow. Gordon Brown is going against all his natural instincts but he’s managed to force the smile out!!

Now that is out of the way, we must hope that an agreement is reached among the G20 that actually leads to affirmative action to deal with the world economy. I am highly sceptical that any deal will be reached that will have a quick and positive impact on the world economy not least for the reason that this meeting has come at least 6 months too late and all the major western nations are gripped by recession. But better late than never and if all the leaders sign up to anti-protectionists measures (such as dismissing British jobs for British workers type nonsense) that will be at least something positive coming out of what appears to be a very expensive international talking shop.

No More Fiscal Stimulus?

‘Given how big [UK fiscal] deficits are, I think it would be sensible to be cautious about going further in using discretionary measures to expand the size of those deficits.

The level of the fiscal position in the UK is not one that would say: ‘Well, why don’t we just engage in another significant round of fiscal expansion?’

Mervyn King giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee has cast serious doubts on Gordon Brown’s preferred remedy for the UK economy. Brown might as well cancel the G20 summit and save the taxpayers millions earmarked for the policing of this event!

Hat tip: Coffee House, Ben Brogan