Whether Gordon Brown survives or not is going to turn on the question of how many Cabinet ministers—if any—are prepared to tell Brown that he must go or they will. Brown’s personal standing with his colleagues is now key to his future. So, it was fascinating to see that it was Des Browne who was sent onto the Today programme, and the other morning shows, to gamely try and spin last night’s result.
Browne has been appallingly badly treated by his near namesake. First of all, Brown lumped responsibility for the Scottish Office on Browne despite the fact that Browne was Secretary of State for Defence at a time when Britain was engaged in two wars. Second, the PM went to Iraq during the Tory conference and announced a troop withdrawal. Browne was reportedly not consulted about this beforehand and the move further undercut his standing with the services. Third, even after it became apparent the toll that doing two jobs was taking on him, Brown failed to abide by the deal to allow Browne to give up his Scottish Office duties after a year. Finally, Browne is frequently subject to the indignity of Brownite spinners hinting that he’ll be one of the Ministers sent back to the backbenches in a reshuffle. Indeed, even this morning there is a story tipping him for demotion. One wonders when Browne’s patience will finally run out.
The other interesting development for Kremlinologists was Douglas Alexander, who has been expelled from Brown’s inner circle because of the election that never was, hinting heavily during BBC News’s election coverage that it was Brown not him who was to blame for the whole debacle of the election that never was.
This morning showed, once again, how desperately Brown needs a Minister for the Today Programme; a John Reid style figure who can go out and defend the PM in times of danger. But considering the way Brown treats his colleagues and the Brownites’ tendency to get going when the going the gets tough, it is no surprise he doesn’t have one.
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