You won’t find many hacks better connected than Trevor Kavanagh so his column today is particularly noteworthy as it assumes that Gordon Brown being told to step down by some of those closest to him is inevitable:
The party won’t have him humiliated by a Cabinet coup, a stalking horse challenge or a showdown with “men in suits”. But senior Labour figures want the issue sorted before the party conference in September.
So . . . who? Both pals and plotters believe there are just two options.
Either Gordon’s family — his wife, Sarah, or brother Andrew — will step in to save this proud man from further torture and urge him to fall on his sword.
Or a group of Cabinet ministers led by Straw will deliver an ultimatum: You go, Gordon . . . or we will.
“It has to be Sarah,” said a friend. “Nobody in this Cabinet has the balls to do it.”
I’ve been away for a few days and coming back it is all the more striking how the conversation on the left has moved onto the question of how Labour can prevent the Tories winning a two-term majority, they are all taking defeat for granted. There is much hope being staked, as Steve Richards notes, in Alan Johnson taking on a cross-government roll once this NHS review is done and limiting the damage. Others, though, are pinning their hopes on the Vicar of Bray turning assassin.
Comments