Society

Friday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

John Hutton joins the ranks of the rebels

So John Hutton is quitting as Defence Secretary – this was NOT in the script.  Lord Mandeson said only an hour ago that “I believe you will find the entire Cabinet following the PM and nobody following James’s lead”. But Hutton, an arch-Blairite who was made to distance himself from James Purnell’s resignation last night, is on his way out. This will be an agonosing wrench for Hutton, who loved defence so much that in his old job (Work & Pensions Secretary) he would finish early, head over to the National Archives at Kew and go and research his various defence projects: books, plays etc. He felt passionately about the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The worst of all possible worlds for Labour

Brown didn’t have the cojones to makes balls Chancellor and so one potential trigger for multiple Cabinet resignations has been avoided. But the country now has a Chancellor who everyone—including the markets—knows is not the Prime Minister’s first choice for the job. What authority will Darling now have when he pronounces on economic matters? Brown by backing away from this confrontation has confirmed that he knows how weak he is. He has proved that he is a lame duck Prime Minister. Tony Blair’s ‘weak, weak, weak’ jibe springs to mind. Alan Johnson by taking the Home Office has bound himself in more closely to Brown. The rebels will now have

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The rebellion grows

Brown appears to be running out of Labour MPs whom he can trust not to resign. Word is that Louise Casey is to be ennobled and sent to the Home Office – this with Alan Sugar’s purported role as a peer and minister would mean even more unelected ministers in the government of an unelected Prime Minister. No wonder there’s talk of a 70 strong backbench rebellion – Brown sees no use in them and it appears to be mutual. It all becomes less tenable by the minute.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Latest: Darling to stay put

Word is that Darling is staying put – if so, it would be the position of maximum weakness for Brown. It means he has had to abandon his plan to enstool Balls as Chancellor. And there was indeed such a plan – I know, for example, that Purnell was offered education, which suggests Balls was on the move. That was on Wednesday, the day Brown failed to back Darling in the Commons when Cameron asked him if Darling would survive the month. But Balls is so widely hated – and that letter (I hear) gathering signatures – that Brown figured he dare not. This, under the circumstances, is the safest

Peter Hoskin

How things stand

So where are we now?  After James Purnell’s resignation last night, Brown really is on the ropes.  In fact, I can’t see him nor his Presbyterian conscience lasting the next couple of weeks, or even the next few days.  Sure, folk like ever-spineless David Miliband and Jack Straw have come out in support of Gordon, but it’s the silences which remain interesting: in particular Alistair Darling, Alan Johnson and Harriet Harman.  Darling, because if he’s forcibly removed from the Treasury, then we might expect him to go nuclear on Brown.  And Johnson and Harman, because they’d probably be among the first in the leadership queue were Brown to go.  Their

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

More reshuffle snippets

It looks increasingly likely that this will be a Cabinet of has-beens (i.e. Beckett); clique members (Balls, Cooper, Vadera and – God help us – Alan Sugar); and toadies (Sean Woodward). Cameron’s lot will look like veritable titans compared to this new axis of pygmies being assembled in No10. For the Tories this gets better and better.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

All smiles for Yvette Cooper

I’ve been in Westminster since 6.30am, a time when anyone awake is crying out for coffee and looking like death. But two metres in front of me now stands the biggest smile I have seen all day. Yvette Cooper was careful not to beam as much on camera, but was a ray of sunlight as she came bouncing up the stairs to the Sky News stage (where I have been doing a paper review). She is tipped for a big job today – probably DWP – and what a day, I suspect, it will be for the Balls-Cooper axis.

Peter Hoskin

Reshuffle imminent

Seems like Gordon Brown is going to reshuffle his Cabinet this morning, in response to the resignation of James Purnell.   The key thing to look out for is whether he replaces Alistair Darling with Ed Balls – we know he wants to, but the events of last night may have dissuaded the PM from doing anything quite so incendiary.  Stay tuned for more as we get it. P.S. The indispensable PoliticsHome are running a useful list of ministers and MPs who have come out against or in support of Brown.

Thursday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why Purnell resigned

I can reveal that James Purnell was offered education, which he turned down, and decided to resign because he couldn’t go on continuing to go out in public and support a PM whom he’d lost faith in months ago. It’s an open secret that Purnell supported David Miliband for the leadership last summer. And, in this context, reports of Miliband’s resignation, expected tomorrow, made sense – it would have been four Cabinet resignations in four days. But Miliband has apparently denied it – to quit now, and choose the wilderness, takes a certain sort of courage. As Miliband showed us last summer, he doesn’t have it. I believe Purnell when

Peter Hoskin

The Tories are on post-Brown footing<br />

Watching Eric Pickles on Sky just now, it’s revealing just how the Tories are responding to the news of Purnell’s resignation.  Pickles’ message is that Purnell agrees with Gordon Brown on all the big issues – “high debt, ID cards, and all that” – and he’s pushing the line that Purnell isn’t concerned with the functions of government but only with the survival of the Labour Party.  It’s slightly disingenuous in this case, but the tactic is clear: suggesting that the Labour Party will remain the same even if – or when? – the current PM is dispatched.  Yep, the Tories are on post-Brown footing.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

RUMOUR: David Miliband to resign Friday

Update: Nick Robinson on the BBC saying Miliband won’t go. Update 2: This Week is saying that Miliband and Hutton have said they disagree with Purnell’s decision. The word on the street which I haven’t confirmed is that David Miliband will go tomorrow.

Peter Hoskin

Purnell’s resignation letter in full

Courtesy of the Sun: Dear Gordon We both love the Labour Party. I have worked for it for twenty years and you for far longer. We know we owe it everything and it owes us nothing. I owe it to our Party to say what I believe no matter how hard that may. I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more not less likely That would be disastrous for our country. This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy. It calls for a government that measures itself by how it treats the poorest in society. Those are our values, not

Peter Hoskin

BREAKING: James Purnell “resigns”

The BBC reports.  This is big.  More soon. UPDATE: Nick Robinson says that Purnell wants to force a leadership batle, and calls on Brown to stand down.  Tomorrow’s Sun and Times carry his resignation letter.  Apparently, Purnell “isn’t seeking the leadership”.  The quotes that Robinson read out make this sound like a bit of a Howe moment UPDATE 2: Just to catch up with some other stories: Flint is staying, and it sounds as though Darling is digging his heels in over the Chancellorship. UPDATE 3: Over at Comment Central, Danny Finkelstein and Philip Collins chat about the Purnell resignation.  They’ve clearly read the letter early, and this point by

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The best and the worst ways for all this to end for Labour and the Tories

As we all await ten o’clock (and there’ll be full coverage on Coffee House if anything kicks off then) and the second editions of the paper to see where the plot stands, it is worth looking at the best and worst conclusions to the Labour leadership crisis for the two main parties: Worst for Labour, best for the Tories: Brown stays as PM but bottles out of moving Darling. The result: a lame duck PM and a lame duck Chancellor. The Tories would love facing a Chancellor who clearly doesn’t have the confidence of the Prime Minister and a Prime Minister who was too weak to reshuffle as he wanted

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Sing a song for Labour

Late last week, we asked who should sing for Labour? (There had been reports that the party was having trouble finding a big name musical act for its annual fundraising do). Thomas Fry came up with the clever suggestion of Gordon Brown singing The Beatles’ ‘I don’t want to spoil the party so I’ll go’. There’s no doubt that would be music to the ears of most Labour MPs. The idea of having D-Ream reprise ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ was also neat. But the winner is Boudica for her suggestion of having a Stones tribute band sing, ‘The Last Time’. Boudica if you want to send us an email

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Fight the wine orthodoxy!

One of the first predictions at the first sign of an economic downturn was the fear of a rapid rise in general mean-spiritedness – leading to nationalism, protectionism and worse. In some areas, though, a bout of grumpy nationalism wouldn’t be a bad thing. Especially if the backlash is directed against those rootless British metropolitans who are so revolted by anything natively British they are now incapable of leaving London except to go abroad. If anyone has plans to start the ‘Pies not Pasta’ food movement, they’ll find me their first supporter. But there is something more immediate all readers of this blog can do to force the pace of

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How would CoffeeHousers reform our democracy?

I would like to call on the substantial collective wisdom of CoffeeHousers. What changes do we need to make to Britain’s democracy? Once, this would have been a closed debate – with Gordon Brown setting up a “national” committee then telling us what we think. Now, we can gatecrash – and this is what The Spectator proposes to do. We’re teaming up wth PoliticsHome to start what should be a massive online consultation to take the debate outside of the Village. In my political column today I ask for suggestions, from select committee membership to having a directly-elected PM. To kick of the debate, click here (or click on one

Peter Hoskin

Reshuffle and resignation rumours

There are plenty of rumours swirling around the Wesminster washbowl, but two are worth pulling out in particular.  The first comes courtesy of Danny Finkelstein (who is, incidentally, running a useful rolling post over at Comment Central on the latest leadership gossip): “Contrary to all previous reports, rumours are now circulating that Alistair Darling would be willing to take another job in the reshuffle, and that the Chancellorship isn’t the be-all-and-end-all for him that everyone had assumed. Presumably though, this get-out-of-jail card for Brown would hang on offering Darling exactly the right kind of job…” And then this appeared on Paul Waugh’s Twitter feed: “Word in Westminster is that at