Gangs of New Labour

The game is up for Brown. Cameron’s lead has doubled to 13 points, and that’s even before he’s got back in his stride.  It’s fairly obvious what’s going to happen next: Brown will cling on, fight, lose then quit. Perhaps he’ll lose by a little, perhaps by a lot, but he’s toast. Then Labour’s fighting really begins. For my News of the World column I look at the jostling that’s already taking place inside Labour. It has a long and proud history of tearing itself apart after losing power – and already you can see MPs getting into groups.

Harriet Harman is playing the class war card, and I suspect that Brown didn’t know or authorise that daft class-based idea of hers. It was designed to big her up on Labour’s left, Polly Toynbee declaring it Labour’s biggest idea for 11 years. You may laugh at Harman, but Labour’s wonky leadership rules made her deputy leader because she hoovered up the third preference votes.