When did Brown give up on the idea of Chancellor Balls?

Silent Hunter

So you don't think that Darling was simply staying on to rack up his pension pot?

Perhaps I'm being too cynical - but he is a labour politician after all.

HJ

Darling has been very quiet over the weekend. I suppose you wouldn't be too eager to back a man who has been fairly openly trying to sack you. I wonder if Darling would ever speak out against Brown.
Just a thought.

Frank Middle England

How providence favours the wicked! There have been many examples throughout history...

Vulture

One way or another, this crisis is not going to end until Bruin goes. If he survives tonight's Euros and tomorrows Liebour MPs' meeting there is still Wednesday's No confidence vote and the by-elections in Norwich and Glasgow...and..and..more events, dear boy. The markets are not going to look kindly on a continuation in office of this stumbling disaster zone. Government will remain paralysed with Bruin now in hock to Darling and every other Cabinet minister. This abscess needs to be lanced, and the rush of pus will drown Liebour (hopefully) forever.

oldtimer

It was a typical dirty trick - get the others (Miliband, Johnson etc) to come out in support of Brown having said that Darling would stay - then try to shift Darling later after they had committed themselves.

This looks to me to be what happened with Flint. On Thursday night, she was offered, or thought she was offered or would get, a cabinet level job. On Friday it was not available. So she quit in a huff. This was not in the Brown script.

I liked Rawnsley`s comment on Alan Sugar:
"Giving a peerage to the gruesome Alan Sugar is the sort of frantic, misconceived stunt that is Gordon Brown at his very worst."

After seeing Sugar interviewed on Sky he came across not so much as "The Apprentice" as " I Haven`t a Clue". Rawnsley is spot on.

Lee Jakeman

" In the end, one of the grand ironies of the reshuffle is that Darling, by fighting against Brown, actually saved the PM from himself." If "saved" is the right word for his current situation - given what's likely to happen next ...

Ian C

If this is right then it confirms muy long held belief that Darling will be a major element in the end of Bruin.

The Laughing Cavalier

You'd need a heart of stone not to laugh. I hope Balls does the decent thing and pays Pickfords cancellation charge.

Kalvis Jansons

Let us take out Mr Brown:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/please-go/

Cottage Pie

The fact that Yvette Cooper was taken out of the treasury shows that the scene was set for her husband to be crowned as the Chancellor. She had to move as a husband and wife team in the treasury would appear too morally corrupt even for this Government.

Susan Hill

The fact that we don`t have Ballsup for Chancellor is the only good thing to come out of the whole sorry mess.

Pete Hoskin

Lee Jakeman: fair point. Maybe i should have put a "temporarily" in there!

Nicholas

I thought the New Labour Nuremberg-style Political Rally today and the BBC coverage of same were absolutely disgusting. There have been hundreds of complaints to the BBC about it - surprised you have not covered it yet.

mitch

Brown gone by mid day mon. you saw it here first.

SteveShark

Chancellor Balls...is that like Tennis Elbow?

Steve.W

When did Brown give up on the idea of Chancellor Balls?
When Lord Mandy of the very long title told him to, that's when.

Flemingcrag

Andrew Rawnsley like the rest of the MSM Copywriters was so far of the scent on the Balls to replace Darling scam that he should reconsider a career in Fairy Tale writing.
This pretend to replace Darling with Balls is the most exquisite demonstration of the machaivellian art of deception being alive and prospering in recent times as we are ever likely to miss.
Alistair Darling by his exploitation of the "second homes address scam" as a means to maximise his personal profit through the avoidance of Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty should have been toast. Either driven from office or forced to resign.
The fact he is neither is down to his and the Prime Minister's ludicrous leak that he intended to replace Alistair with Ed (so what) Balls, the outcry from the "savvy" Media was as planned as it was predictable. They begged that this expenses fraudster be kept in charge at the Treasury.
Mission accomplished.
Andrew should visit Edinburgh more often where Alistair and his good Lady play host to Mr and Mrs Brown every other week-end.

Tankus

gets the job then quits at 7pm on tuesday , or 11am on wed

killer punch

Suki

The Alan Sugar move is very silly. Just because someone is a celebrity it doesn't necessarily make them a good politician.

It's typical Brown, though. Witness his longstanding cosiness with Piers Moron. Moron spent months writing about how Brown, the new PM, was brilliant. And poor old Brown, the wee lassie from a small Scottish town who just wanted a chance to be PM has had a meltdown. Cam - beware.

badman

You mean you don't believe Gordon Brown when he said twice, on the record, in the Downing Street press conference on Friday, that he had never wanted to move Darling?

Surely he could not tell such bare faced lies? Could he?

Rush-is-Right

"Labour MPs ..... may set off with the goal of putting Alan Johnson into Number 10 and wake up two months later to find that they'd installed Harriet Harman."

What a delicious prospect!