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LATEST: Gordon Brown battles to quell Labour mutiny
4 Jun 2009
Gordon Brown faced a coup today as rebel Labour MPs plotted to oust him from Number 10.
The Prime Minister's authority was on the line after the emergence of an email, urging him to quit, that was being circulated among his own MPs.
After a string of resignations from the Government, including the loss of two Cabinet ministers in two days, Mr Brown had already been struggling to maintain any semblance of control.
As voters head to the ballot box in council and Euro elections, Mr Brown is facing the prospect of a leadership challenge.
The text of the rebel email - which according to reports more than 70 MPs were ready to put their names to - was leaked to the media last night. Nobody has so far claimed authorship and it is unclear exactly how many MPs support it.
It states: "We are writing now because we believe that in the current political situation, you can best serve the Labour Party and the country by stepping down as party leader and Prime Minister."
Under party rules, 71 of Labour's 351 MPs are needed to mount a leadership challenge to an incumbent. The email states that its ringleaders will not publish a list of names until they reach 50 in number.
Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Paul Farrelly last night rejected claims that he was one of the chief plotters as "completely untrue".
MPs deciding whether to support the insurrection will be watching today's local and European elections in which Labour is braced for disastrous results after a torrid period.
The email threat came after Hazel Blears' surprise resignation as Communities Secretary yesterday, hard on the heels of news that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and two more ministers are to leave the Government in an imminent reshuffle.
Ms Blears offered no praise for the Prime Minister, who singled out her expenses claims for criticism amid recent controversy over her failure to pay capital gains tax.
The resignations pre-empted Mr Brown's plans for a reshuffle either tomorrow or early next week, leaving him looking at the mercy of events.
Chancellor Alistair Darling was reported last night to be resisting being shifted out of the Treasury and into a lesser Cabinet role.
There were further claims that Mr Brown had trying to line up former home secretary John Reid for a return to the Cabinet.
Senior Labour backbencher Barry Sheerman warned that there was widespread unhappiness with the Prime Minister.
"If the Prime Minister doesn't realise that, across the party, there is a disillusionment with the way the parliamentary party has been consulted, treated and valued, he is heading for trouble," he said.
"If you lose your base of support, and if even the Cabinet starts to feel unhappy with the leadership of the Prime Minister, then that is one indication of unhappiness and destabilises a regime.
"If you do that with a broader group of colleagues in the parliamentary party, right across the political spectrum, then you are really in trouble and you've got to do something fast before it gets unstoppable."
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson last night appealed to Labour MPs not to back an attempt to bring down the Prime Minister.
He told the BBC: "I know there are Labour MPs who are in a very grumbly mood, but British politics is in a bad old state. Nobody is happy and it is affecting all the parties. Don't please, through your actions, make it any worse for the Labour Party."
Labour's crisis of confidence was a gift to the opposition parties ahead of today's elections.
Conservative leader David Cameron said yesterday that the Prime Minister had lost command of a Government which was "collapsing before our eyes".
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg pronounced that "Labour is finished".
In a letter to Mr Brown confirming her resignation, Ms Blears pointedly offered none of the usual expressions of support for the Prime Minister or his policies.
In what was seen as an accusation that Mr Brown had lost touch with voters, she said she wanted to "help the Labour Party to reconnect with the British people".
Reader views (5)
After Thatcher, the Tories were in disarray with a succession of leaders: Major, Hague, IDS, Howard and now finally, Cameron. Labour is now going through the same process. After Blair, Brown will be just one of many useless leaders. After him, in all probability will follow: Johnson, Milliband, Purnell and other uesless people, until a real leader is found. This will take at least another 10 years.
- Edward Perry, London, UK, 05/06/2009 09:14
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"Government putting our trust in the people" said Gordon Brown when he became Prime Minister.
Now he tells us that he is instead concentrating on the big issues, although he in fact appears to be battling for his very survival.
Right now the people have little trust in a beleaguered Prime Minister, a disintegrating Government or a Parliament of questionable ethical standing. Mr Brown should put an end to this farce now and permit the people to elect those they believe can be trusted.
- John C, Leatherhead, UK, 04/06/2009 09:16
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I feel its very unfair that Gordon Brown is being used as a scapegoat by the rest of the party (including Tony Blair, who seems to have timed his exit to perfection.)
I am not going to vote today. I have a v good reason for this - i would have to spend 2 pound on my bus fare and none of the parties are worth it...
- Ray Charles, London, 04/06/2009 09:15
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Time to talk about their legacy: for me it will be:
The Iraq war
Open borders/visa scam/chip shop colleges etc.
Ruined economy, national debt of control 2m on jsa 2.5m on incapacity.
The fact that 100's of mp's will be leaving parliament with massive pay-offs and pensions makes me sick, add to that the money they have made on their 2nd homes where the taxpayer has paid the interest payments and they are set up for life at our expense. We were scammed because we failed to pay attention to what Blears and co where doing, we only have ourselves to blame.
- Undercover Elephant, Dole Farm, Crays Hill, Essex, 04/06/2009 09:11
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They need to go now. All this fighting is distracting from the very expensive job we pay them to do, nobody they put forward as leader is electable the party is in shambles all due to the actions of alias Smith n Brown and his puppet Darling
- Gary, Brentwood 1, 04/06/2009 08:17
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