Peter Hoskin

Behind the desk-banging

One figure I’d like to see is the ratio of Labour MPs who think Gordon should go against those – all six of them – who actually told him to go during the PLP meeting yesterday. What would it be?  10:1?  20:1?  30:1?  One thing’s for sure: those half-dozen honest souls aren’t the only ones who’d like to see the back of Brown.  So why all the desk-banging?  It’s just utterly surreal.

The behind-the-scenes loathing is a theme developed by Rachel Sylvester in her Times column this morning.  She writes of Cabinet dissent; of MPs fed up with the “sense of paralysis” at the heart of government; and of the resentment that backbenchers feel.  But it’s this passage which stands out:

“I am told that even yesterday David Miliband was still considering going privately to tell the Prime Minister that he should stand down.

Britain’s best politics newsletters

You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in