Steve Richards’s column in The Independent is absolutely essential reading. Steve dismisses the argument that Jack Straw would be prepared to wield the knife just for the sake of the caretaker’s broom. If Straw does strike, he’s in it for the long haul—one reason why David Miliband would almost certainly challenge Straw if there was a vacancy.
Steve concludes by summing up the dilemma that Labour MPs face:
“If I were a Labour MP, I would note the polls, all of which suggest the Tory lead is soft and that almost as many voters identify with Labour as they do with the Conservatives. There has been no fundamental sea change and, as the last year has shown, fortunes can shift dramatically. I would then pose a question: In these wildly oscillating times would a new leadership team of David Miliband and Alan Johnson have a honeymoon, with a chance of propelling Labour into a poll lead? Next, I would note that in spite of the onslaught against him Mr Brown is best placed by far with his experience to address the pivotal economic questions. I would then ask a second question: Will voters credit Mr Brown with anything as long as he remains Prime Minister? Mr Brown’s fate hangs on the answer to these two questions.”
I’m sceptical that a Miliband Johnson ticket could propel Labour back into the
leader, but it could probably reverse some of the damage of the Brown years. I also suspect that Brown’s reputation is so damaged that, to paraphrase, there is nothing he could ever say to the electorate that they could ever believe.
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