It’s not a great start to the week for Gordon Brown, as he prepares for relaunch no.29. After the pummelling he received from John Prescott, Cherie Blair and Stephen Byers over the weekend, more (former) Blairites have entered the fray. Foremost among them is Lord Levy, who’s conducted a series of interviews to hawk his new book. Here’s what he had to tell the Telegraph, when asked whether Brown should resign:
“You don’t really need to ask me that question … you need to look at the polls and see what the public believes and feels. I am actually stunned at what the polls are showing.
That’s a question that Gordon really needs to reflect on, his Cabinet need to reflect on and the Labour Party hierarchy and members of the Commons need to reflect on. But the polls certainly are not looking very pretty, to put it mildly.”
However, two anonymous quotes from the same article are more arresting. One “leading Blairite” reveals that Blair can “not stop laughing” about Brown’s plight, and another says: “Brown has not got a hope in hell of winning the next election, the focus now should be on ensuring the party isn’t wiped out for the next decade.”
All of which reinforces the idea that the Brown premiership is becoming a feeding-frenzy. I doubt the parallels with the Major years will be lost on the electorate.
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