And so it begins

Nothos

A deal, eh? Labour sure do like making deals...

Austin Barry

For Gordon it's over. The gloomy depressive in a cheap suit and expensive teeth, is about to be culled. A dead man killed by other dead men. For Nu Labour it's over: indicted on a litany of charges: fiscal irresponsibility; relentless attempts at social engineering resulting in a Dystopian nightmare; gerrymandering by intentionally uncontrolled immigration; selling honours; fiddling expenses; pursuing the motorist while providing enormous welfare benefits to terrorists. What a crew, what a shower of squalid, vote-wheedling catch farts. May they be booted into oblivion to howls of execration from the electorate they have betrayed.

MartSharm

I've never read Fraser so excited. He's like a boy in a sweet shop! We've all been waiting for this moment for years, so let's savour it like a fine malt.

Teledu

Wowee, it's a great day to be scanning the newspapers to read about our wretched government's turmoil; it's so well deserved.
Could it get any worse for ZanuLabour?
Only if Brown was ousted and Hazel Blears somehow became leader; didn't call an election and went on preaching in her bossy, patronising, annoying way. As though telling off foolish children for daring to doubt Labour's right to govern.
How low would Labour sink in the polls then?
I know it won't happen - but we can dream.

Confused

What does richard mottram have to do with anything?

Lucan Zeeman

Austin Barry - wonderful!

Catchfarts - no better epithet could possibly be coined.

David C

Now the game of chess begins.
If Labour is determined to break Brown's fingers as they prise them away from the door of No.10, then they will have to choose a new leader.
Who will this person be?
Who is going to abandon hope of their own mandate and their own term - their own political career - in order to 'sin-eat' for the Labour Party.

On the other hand, who thinks that they can pull the situation around and secure a 'famous victory' for the Party and an everlasting place in History.

Ah, fear and ambition.

(I still think it is all too late)

Nicholas

Austin Barry: beautiful précis of the New Labour experiment and the resurrected national socialist nightmare it has become.

Teledu: wonderful word picture of Bleating Blears. "Labour's right to govern" - yes, one of the most annoying aspects of their ghastly dogma, always reinforced by their many friends in the BBC.

Both posts capture the very worst about this government. The interesting thing is that amidst all this wreckage of false promises and falser hopes the great clunking socialist machine is still all about its own survival rather than good government. It has always been about power and ideology - never about good government. You would think that the well documented experiences of the Soviet Union, Red China and the East European gulag would have put people off the bloody Red Flag forever. There must be some very stupid, very misguided and/or very evil people here.

Good riddance to the lot of them. But I think there will be some unpleasant death throes yet.

John Page

The BBC's take is "Senior ministers get behind Brown".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7526622.stm

Why does that bunch of conceited inadequates think they could do any better?

Did anyone see Ed Miliband on Newsnight being ineffectually questioned by Gavin Essler?

The electorate voted against us because of the credit crunch and they want Gordon Brown to 'see us through it' (whatever that means).

(So they're stupid then.)

When told opinion polls show people are against Gordon Brown ... "Well I don't accept that".

I suppose Miliband's so pathetically ambitious that he doesn't mind looking stupid. But what good does it do?

Charlie T

A spineless old ninny like Straw would wet himself if he was asked to wield the knife.
Browns cabinet is full of weak bottlers like the man himself.So he will mostly likely soldier on to the bitter end.

BTW Why is the Sun even at this stage when Brown is clearly finished still giving him succour? Does Murdoch hate Cameron that much that he will still back a loser like Brown?

Fergus Pickering

Is it a cheap suit. I thought it was an expensive suit. Surely it's an expensive suit. We have to know. Are Boris's suits good? Now Ken.I expect his clothes are from Tesco, but that's because he BELIEVES.

mike

Who are you going to blame when Cameron and the gang take over ? You think this guy can sort things ? How ? He's never done a proper job in his life. Betcha he makes a mess of it. Still for the next few years he can always blame Gordon, and you'll believe him. Silly folk you don't realize how good it's been for you, house prices looking good even now, few bob in the bank and a decent job, inflation been steady and interest rates been low. What more did you really want ? Well what ? It'll all end in tears when that shallow bunch of yours take over, you see if it don't.

John

"There must be some very stupid, very misguided and/or very evil people here"

Nicholas: that would be all those utter prats who voted for this gang of crooks. I didn't notice anyone forcing the voters to do so.

molesworth 1

I'm sure I have said this before, but...
Brown is forced out in a Cabinet coup, led by Straw or Hoon, with Straw/Johnson emerging as the new leader, and so PM. Cue howls of outrage from all quarters, hence a swift calling of GE.
Straw/Johnson dreams of VICTORY & a glorious premiership. This does not happen. In opposition, the real fight for the leadership begins, probably between Johnson (Straw knows he can go no further), Purnell & Miliband. I have money on it.

Silent Hunter

That was a party political broadcast by The Mike Party.

Formerly known as The Monster Raving Loony Party.

:O)

Labour are; as Ned Flanders would say......

"Dead, dead, didly dead, dead, didly dead, dead, dum diddly dum dead"

Oh Happy Day!

john problem

The real money is one one of the various ladies in the Cabinet. Jack is too old elephant, Miliband and Purnell resemble a clone of Cameron. The public would think that daft. Three of the ladies in the Cabinet were journalists so the idea is that the media would be kinder as one thing after another goes wrong. A second reasoning is that it would be easier for a woman to fight Cameron, so long as she doesn't act like snarling Hillary and treats Cameron as though he were a little lad.

J. Major (Conservative)

All these articles, opinions and blogs about my friend Gordon being ousted as PM seem to forget he has an ace trump card up his sleeve: in the face of a cabinet/back-bench revolt he can simply threaten to go to the Palace and ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament.

If you were a Labour MP faced with losing your job now or losing it in 2010, which would you choose?

Hang on in there, Gordon! Tell them to 'put up or shut up' and they'll soon back down! Well, it worked for me!

David Short

I know it's the silly season, but why does the formerly august Spectator want to pick over this matter like a hungry vulture?

What's the point of all this speculation when everyone is on holiday?

People - even Spectator readers - aren't as interested in the daily minutiae of British politics as the the chief executive thinks.

Whether Brown stays or goes, now or later, doesn't really matter.

The Government has no particular mission or power to change the economy or the daily lives of people, nor does the government-in-waiting, if that be the Cameroons.

Start writing about more important stuff.

Take a summer break.

Nicholas

"People - even Spectator readers - aren't as interested in the daily minutiae of British politics as the the chief executive thinks."

Yes we are.

"The Government has no particular mission or power to change the economy or the daily lives of people"

Ha! This government does. It wants to change everything and has - for the worse. That's the bloody problem!

Take a summer break if you want to. Go and find a gardening forum to discuss pink, fluffy stuff while we pick over Herr Braun's rancid carcass.

Trumpeter Lanfried

David Short @ 5.01 PM. You're missing the point. There is genuine and perfectly legitimate pleasure to be had in gloating over the downfall of a deeply unpleasant bully who has caused the country so much harm.

Marin

I'm sure the BBC headline ("Senior ministers get behind Brown"; see John Page above) is factually accurate: the ministers did get behind Brown as did Brutus & accomplices behind Caesar. And yes, John Page is right: it is not only Brown's fault but rather the whole bunch is collectively responsible. And they are all so terribly unfair to poor Gordon...

Max Kaye

David Short,

Don't deny us a bit of fun and schadenfreude.

After 11 years of rot we should be allowed to revel in the spectacle of the slo-mo car-crash that is Nu-Labour's self-demolition.

You'd have to be a socialist not to enjoy it.

TGF UKIP

Fraser, I ask again - if a mortally wounded Gordon is so good for the Tories, why doesn't your mate Dave go one step further than he did yesterday when he called for a General Election.

Why doesn't he indicate that on the resumption of Parliament he will put a motion of No Confidence in Gordon and his Government?

They'll all have to swear fealty to the sod and vote down the confidence motion but the PLP will then be well and truly nailed to the Brown cross until the GE.

Al

Doesn't anyone remember that Jack Straw was Brown's campaign manager? Okay there was no need for a campaign as there was no contest, but nonetheless we should be seriously questioning JS's judgement!
It was he after all who persuaded Labour MP's to agree to no contest and anoint Brown..................
........unless of course he knew the truth that, to quote John Hutton "Gordon will be a F**king crap Prime Minister"
Maybe this was JS's master plan....... support GB, get him in and position yourself to take over when it all went wrong!
Wait a minute that's bloody genius! Jack Straw for PM and double quick!

Marian C

Nicholas; I'm with you on that