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PM faces first direct call to quit from Labour MP
Joe Murphy, Political Editor28 Jul 2008
Gordon Brown faced an outright call from a Labour MP to resign in the "best interests" of the Labour Party.
Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said he hoped the Prime Minister would admit on reflection he was a liability to his own party.
"I hope Gordon reflects on things during August and accepts that it is in the party's best interests, and perhaps his own, for him to stand down," he said, adding that the Government had "gone a bit rusty".
"A Prime Minister must be able to communicate, persuade and enthuse," Mr Prentice said. "If not, the message is lost. I want to see an open leadership election where the bar in terms of nominations is not set so high so as to exclude credible candidates."
Mr Prentice is the first MP to call directly on the PM to stand down since last week's disastrous Glasgow East by-election. A rebel who opposed top-up fees and foundation hospitals, he told his local party chiefs last week that he had lost confidence in Mr Brown. "I just think we need a new leader," he added today. "Someone has got to speak out."
The call came as allies fought back against Labour plotters today by warning of an early general election if he is ousted. They raised the stakes by insisting pressure for an election would be "unstoppable" if a new Prime Minister was installed for the second time since 2005 without voters having a say.
A former No 10 spin doctor warned of a "catastrophic defeat" that could keep Labour out of office for up to 15 years.
"Every possible test has shown the party in such dire straits that we're not just heading for defeat at the next election but such a catastrophic defeat that frankly it could take two, perhaps three, general elections for Labour to be back in a position of coming back to power," Lance Price told Sky News.
Labour backbenchers chairman Tony Lloyd said Mr Prentice's views were not shared by most MPs, but said the Government needed "sharper focus" and Mr Brown must "get across what he is about".
The Brown allies' threat sent a tremor through the ranks of Labour MPs in marginal constituencies who would face annihilation. Two new polls today confirmed the party would lose badly if the election was held immediately.
A very close ally of the Prime Minister said: "The pressure for an early election if Gordon left office would be massive, it would be unstoppable. Those talking of a change have got to be prepared for that."
Mr Brown has been undermined by the accusation that he was not elected as Prime Minister. His claim to govern is justified by Labour on the grounds that Tony Blair made clear at the 2005 general election he would not serve a full term and that Mr Brown was his likely successor.
One ex-minister rejected the Brownite argument, saying: "The idea we would have to have an election could be spun away by saying the new leader would need time to show himself to voters."
Labour MPs spent the weekend agonising over the question of Mr Brown's leadership but so far no heavyweight critic has broken cover. There were reports today of a plot by 30 Labour MPs to write an open letter to the Cabinet demanding a leadership contest.
The Daily Telegraph said the group included moderate MPs and former ministers, all unnamed. At the weekend, former minister George Howarth was reported to be collecting names for such a letter but denied that he was doing so.
The polls showed Labour at rock bottom. One survey showed more than one in five of Labour's own supporters think David Cameron would make a better Prime Minister. The ComRes poll for The Independent found 53 per cent think the Conservatives are ready for office, with 46 per cent saying Mr Cameron is ready. Only a third thought MrBrown should stay on.
A YouGov survey for the Telegraph put Labour on 26 per cent, a full 19 points behind Mr Cameron's 45 per cent, with the Lib-Dems on 17.
Mr Straw, said to have been approached to lead a delegation to ask Mr Brown to stand down, issued a statement of loyalty yesterday. "I am absolutely convinced Gordon Brown is the right man to be leading the Labour party," he said.
Former deputy PM John Prescott also rallied behind Mr Brown. Harriet Harman, who is nominally in charge for the first week of Mr Brown's holiday, said today: "He is the solution, not the problem."
Reader views (12)
Please stay Mr. Brown in order that the Conservative Party's chance of winning the next election is enhanced further!
- Patrick T, London, 29/07/2008 11:50
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"Isn’t it time we judged a book by its content rather than its cover"
Grace sadly the content of the book is very short and it repeats the same phrases over and over again. There is no direction to the content but it resembles the opinion section of the Daily Express. Many people who have read other books in the series said that this one will be the last they read for a long while. The section on Europe is just made up and the chapter about his former love - Prudence seems to have been removed altogether
Enough mixed metaphors. I'm off to read a shiny new blue book that I will be buying in 2010.
- M Spanner, Ilford, 29/07/2008 11:08
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Prescott rallied behind Brown?
Two months ago he admitted he'd asked Blair to sack him!
- Ed, London, 29/07/2008 11:03
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I predicted Labour would be out-of-power for a generation once the British people came to understand the treachery involved in the Brown/Clegg passage of the Lisbon Treaty without the people's consent. You can't remove a large chunk of British sovereignty and change a country into a province without the people having a say in the matter. Approval of the Lisbon Treaty went through with little fanfare only because Brown covered up the enormous consequences for the British people, and those who understood its true magnitude (such as legal academics) chose to keep quiet (probably because many of them are in cushy E.U.-funded sinecures). If the Irish had not stood their ground, the U.K. would be well on its way now to becoming a de jure E.U. province.
In Canada in the late 1980s the Prime Minister attempted to amend the Canadian Constitution in a way that most Canadians disagreed with. His name was Brian Mulroney. As a direct result of Canadians' anger with his tampering with the Constitution, Mulroney's Conservative Party went from a majority of 250 seats at the previous election to 20 seats in 1993. I see very much the same thing happening in the U.K. When Brits fully wake up to the true extent of the Brown/Clegg treachery, Labour will be out-of-power for a generation. My prediction is that Labour will win no more than 30 to 35 seats in the next election.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 29/07/2008 10:19
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Dear Brian,
Hope you and your lot stay in England. I saw a post the other day suggesting that it was the BNP that defeated labour in Glasgow! Clearly some illiterate numpty. It was not and the SNP are not anti-English as portrayed by the Unionist parties; they are pro-Scotland which is not the same thing. Scotland is not England. it is not even a part of England. SNP is a viable alternative to labour/conservatives/lib dem government unlike the BNP who don appear to be able to run a parish council.
- Arrow, edinburgh scotland, 28/07/2008 23:34
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Isn’t it time we judged a book by its content rather than its cover! Once we were proud of being Britons, the Empire was vast, beyond measure and comprehension your average Joe England. 'Now sadly we seem to have turned into a superficial nation of school yard style bullies and the Big Brother style of voyeurism that sells TV’s prime air-time also seems to have crudely invaded our political forums. Do we really want to mimic our American cousins? If given the choice of entrusting the safety of your children each morning for the school run with a driver would we choose A. camera shy Mr Brown, or B. A man wearing a spitting image Ronald Reagan mask.. I think we all know without too much soul searching that the slow but steady Mr Brown would be the obvious choice! I’m sure you will remember the storey of the tortoise and the hare, none of us would have ever recalled this childhood analogy, had the tortoise been disqualified on the ground of looks… I thought that we were a nation that believed fervently in freedom of speech and expression. I do not necessarily agree with all Gordon Brown’s politics, however I do believe in the benefit of the doubt and this tortoise should be allowed to take part in a fair race… May the best man win… to the victor the spoils….or one would hope!
A bit of advice from a Northern Lady, “Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry Mr Brown and you cry alone and the Scots are not best known for tears, with the exception of Burns night
- Grace Gammie, Durham, 28/07/2008 21:59
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As much as I would like to see the back of Gordon one backbencher is not a rebellion.
- Dave Smith, Croydon, 28/07/2008 21:05
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Gordon Brown will never resign. He is as stubborn as a mule, and acts individually like one. The strength of the government should show it itself by rallying around and leading together with the PM. If a resignation was ever to happen now the effects would be catastrophic on the stock markets and would lead us into a deeper depression
- Martin, crystal palace, 28/07/2008 15:42
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What the Pendle MP didn't say was that there is a movement afoot to put up a woman to replace Gordon Brown.
The view amongst the party big-wigs is that one of the three women Cabinet ministers would be a good alternative. They all come from a journalistic background so it is thought they might get a kinder treatment from the media, and that Cameron would have a hard time of it attacking a lady, for Brown's mistakes, and that a dramatic change is needed. Straw is too old elephant, whilst Milibrand and Purnell look a bit like clones of Cameron. Which woman is to be chosen is not yet certain.
- John Problem, Hackney Wick, London, UK, 28/07/2008 15:40
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Gordon or Harriet? Our of the frying pan into the fryer.
- Alber Thall, hove england, 28/07/2008 15:29
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It does not matter who the labour party elect as their leader as they are finished, they are a spent force with nothing to offer. They have not and do not support the indigenous people of this island, they have nothing but contempt for the white British race. Not one main party represents us, but there exists a party that does and they are gaining in strength and integrity as time passes. We need a new way, and this party is the way. I have this to say to the three main parties, and I used to be a member of one of them and the message is this "Good riddance to bad rubbish". The time for change has come, embrace it and vote for a party that WILL change things for us.
- Brian Hope, Brighton England, 28/07/2008 13:30
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Jack Straw says "I am absolutely convinced that Gordon Brown is the right man to be leading the Labour party,"
A message echo'd by the Tory Party!
- Dave, Wanstead, 28/07/2008 12:09
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