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Clarke gives Gordon Brown two months to improve or fall on his sword
Joe Murphy, Political Editor4 Sep 2008
Charles Clarke today gave Gordon Brown two months to improve or "stand down with honour".
He made the looming Glenrothes by-election an effective deadline for Labour to begin winning again.
But in the most devastating attack yet from a Labour heavyweight, he made clear he did not think Mr Brown could turn his fortunes around.
"I think the best thing for the country and the party would be if Gordon made his own mind up," he said.
"That after all is what a whole string of national and party leaders have done in past decades, decided that there came a point where it was better for them to go with honour.
"I think that would be by far the best. In the event that that did not happen then I think it would be down to the Cabinet to decide what to do and to do that in an expeditious way."
Mr Clarke candidly admitted that there was not enough Cabinet support for a delegation of "men in suits" to tell Mr Brown to go. "There isn't a view at the moment that they should go and speak to Gordon in the way I have described."
But he insisted his worries were shared by "many, many, many" Labour figures. "I think many in the Cabinet share the view we are in great difficulty and doubtful about our capacity to get out of it," he said.
Mr Brown, who was touring Merseyside this afternoon, refused to comment on the attack. The Prime Minister dodged questions and one reporter was repeatedly pushed away by undercover police officers.
But his allies were livid that it deliberately overshadowed a keynote fightback speech to business leaders at the CBI in Glasgow tonight.
Downing Street aides argued that Mr Clarke's admission he lacked enough support to oust Mr Brown showed talk of plots had been exaggerated.
They dismissed his criticisms of the Prime Minister as "insignificant" and said he could be "safely ignored".
There was no sign this afternoon of any groundswell of Labour MPs or ministers siding with Mr Clarke. But a raft of ministers led by Children's Secretary Ed Balls hit back at him, saying Mr Clarke was a maverick and only damaging his own side.
Mr Balls said: "It's not the first time Charles has made those kind of comments. I think it's Charles being Charles."
Junior minister Phil Hope said Mr Clarke should "shut up" while Helen Jones likened him toViolet Elizabeth Bott, the tantrum-prone child in the Just William stories.
However, Mr Clarke's detailed comments put into the public domain views that many Labour ministers and MPs have been saying in private.
Asked how long Mr Brown had left, he said: "I think it is a question of months really. It is a question of seeing how it works forward and whether he can deal with the situation. I am personally a sceptic."
In a call to critics of Mr Brown who are sitting on their hands, he argued it would be "disreputable" of them to do nothing.
"What I think is disreputable is people who believe that we are going to a very bad election result, that we are going to lose in historically bad terms but don't believe there is anything we can do about it," he said. "That kind of fatalism, I think, is very damaging indeed."
Mr Brown had been a "brilliant Chancellor" under Tony Blair, he went on, but had been a disappointment as PM.
"I don't think I'm attacking Gordon Brown, I am saying what is commonplace," he said. "I think we need to discuss what we do about it.
"What I believe is there are two essential possibilities, both of which are perfectly honourable," he said.
"The first is for the performance of the Government to improve significantly which is what I think many, many people would like to see.
"Or the second is for Gordon Brown to stand down as Prime Minister with honour and have a proper leadership election to address the proper issues."
His tour of media studios came on the heels of an article he wrote in the New Statesman calling for change to avert " disaster" at the next election.
Stepping up the criticism, he said: "There are many, many, many people now who are very concerned about our direction and about our capacity to win the next general election - throughout the Labour Party - talk to almost any MP, any party activist, you will find deep concerns about where we stand and what we do. I think that is an almost universal feeling."
He called on Mr Brown to show a "sense of decisiveness and clarity".
Reader views (3)
There should have been an election and let the most capable team win!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 04/09/2008 23:10
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10 Years of lies spin and more lies from the worst government ever at long last seems to becoming to an end spin cant save this lot now! Not only did the idiot in No 10 give our gold away for next to nothing but our freedoms and our money he gave the lot away to Europe him and the Barrowboy Blair these 2 should be tried for treason! It was the UK when they came into power now its been broken up into 3 bits all with no power we have to go to the EU for every law we pass here, well done nu-labour and now the great British public has seen through all the spin and lies RIP!
- Spursrcrud, London UK, 04/09/2008 15:39
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I never liked Charles Clarke, but here he's just stating common-sense. Brown should go now to give his party any chance of a future. But a pragmatist knows that Brown won't resign. He'll have it in his head that somehow magically it can all be turned around -- never ready to face reality.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 04/09/2008 15:02
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