How deep in the bunker are the Brownites?

When Gordon Brown was riding high in the polls, the Brownites were a ubiquitous present. Now, they have gone to ground.

Last night’s, Blair documentary was a reminder of just how factional the Brownites are by nature and it seems those old instincts are coming out again. Ben Brogan reports on his indispensable blog that someone called him on Sunday afternoon to sound off about David Miliband:

“There’s a feeling around that he trying to rerun his leadership campaign and, fairly disgracefully, destabilise Gordon Brown. His friends believe he’ll be in a stronger position if he distances himself from Mr Brown when he’s in touble. He should remember that he could have stood against Gordon in the spring. He had his chances. And didn’t take it because he knew he would have been murdered politically.”

If the Brownites have already turned their fire on the rest of the government, the end is nearer than any of us had realised. Brown and his henchmen desperately need to realise that his cabinet must hang together or hang separately. If they carry on like this, there’ll be no government for Ed Balls or anyone else to inherit.