It’s one of Charles Clarke’s more endearing qualities that he can never see a china shop without behaving like a bull. This week’s latest tirade against the Prime Minister can be seen in many ways. I like to think of it as a selfless act by Mr Clarke, in which he lays down his own political future for the greater good. For whoever becomes Labour leader after Brown will be sure of one thing – that he or she can never rely on Mr Clarke not to ‘go off on one’ again. And that is why Charles Clarke’s political career is over. The question we have to ask is: does he realize it?Mr Clarke will not bring down Gordon Brown. That will happen in one of two ways. Firstly, a group of Cabinet Ministers will go and do the dirty deed and tell him they cannot any longer serve under his leadership. The chances of that happening are akin to West Ham winning the Champions League. They have the courage of their leader.
The second way is for the trade unions to cut off funding. At the moment they are providing 90% of the party's funding needs, and it is easy to assert that he who pays the piper calls the tune. Look out for this week's TUC Conference and what the big beast union leaders are saying. In some ways, the TUC Conference could be more important for Brown's future than his own.
And then there is Polly Toynbee, who has written a stormer of a COLUMN in today's Guardian. She's almost despairing at Brown's incompetence and inability to govern properly. She is corruscating about his short termism and his failure to reign in his PR people. This is perhaps the parapgraph which will have most effect...
A cabinet of minnows and spineless backbenchers include many - perhaps most - who want Brown gone, but lack the nerve to act. They wait for someone else, for Brown to walk away or for a proverbial bus to save them from the task. First they put it off in July: wait until after the summer, many said. Now it's wait until the party conference - as if that "speech of a lifetime" could make a scrap of difference at this stage. Then it will be "Don't rock the boat before the Glenrothes byelection". Will that deliver the electric shock to end the inertia that neither Crewe nor Glasgow East could? Or will they put it off until after Christmas, or catastrophic May elections? Some say a recession is no time for internal wrangling; but the longer they leave it, the longer the leadership question hangs over them. It will not go away.
It won't indeed. A man of courage would do what John Major did in 1995. But compared to Gordon Brown, John Major is like Winston Churchill to Brown's Neville Chamberlain.
But as I hint at above, and Polly says explicity, it's now only Brown's courage that is in question. It's the courage of his Cabinet. David Miliband can drop all the hints he likes. Alan Johnson can give all the 'honest guy' interviews he likes, but unless they have the courage to confront the man who they know is incapable of leading Labour through this disaster, they will deserve to go down with him. And Miliband can be sure that it will not be him who inherits the post-election wreckage.
UPDATE: Matthew Parris says...
So the argument that follows is probably naive, the likelihood being that Mr Brown will plough on to the bitter end.
But against all that I say this: Labour's predicament had now gone beyond an internal party matter, beyond a calculation of numbers and probabilities. It is a national predicament. It is an emergency - a challenge to which a decent party should be able to rise. In the immediate term Britain is heading into a recession with a doomed and flailing leadership at the helm. In the longer term the pride and confidence of a whole political and philosophical movement, the British centre left, is on trial. And in very personal terms, the courage - I would almost say the honour - of a small number of men and women, Mr Brown's Cabinet, is being tested.
David Miliband, Alistair Darling, Jack Straw, John Hutton and Alan Johnson know that it lies within their power to wrench the tiller from this man's hands.
15 comments:
Iain, how can you say that ?
Without ever a leadership election, and now without any challenges to bury him, he has indeed got "peace in his time".
Alan Douglas
Heavens, that woman is attractive.
It would appear that the present Cabinet are not brave enough to do the honourable thing.
Can Brown be impeached for overclaiming expenses or some other matter?
Does the Queen fear so much for her subjects that she will stand the constitutional crisis of suspending Parliament, or sacking her Prime Minister?
Can the senior Civil Servants, Police and Armed Forces Chiefs work to rule until Brown and Co decide that the game is up?
It is worrying that as an ordinary bloke there is little I can do legally to bring forward a General Election. Even peaceful protests seem to be 'illegal' for some trumped up reason.
why the pic of Melissa?
Sometimes people must put the good of the country before their own ambitions and party. It's the nation's misfortune that at this time there are no true patriots left within the Cabinet who are willing to do what must be done. If no one person has the necessary courage then they should go "en masse" to Brown and tell him the game is up for him and he must stand down so that someone else can at least save what can be saved of the Labour Party which faces anihilation in the polls
This matter needs resolving and the governance of the country restored be that by a new Labour Leader with a new mandate got at the General Election that must be called within 6 months of removing Brown or by Cameron and the Conservatives.
To allow the present state of affairs to continue for up to 2 years and the good governance of the country falter thereby is a dereliction of their oath of office that each and every one of them swore as a Minister of the Crown and in some cases as Privy Councillors.
'coruscating' means sparkling like diamonds. You possibly intended to say 'excoriating' meaning tearing the skin off.
Interesting times indeed.
Polly is being a complete wally on this. All over the place that girl. And Charles Clarke? He's done well to keep relatively quiet since his last ignored outburst. That was exactly two year's ago today.
Basically he thinks he should have been PM. Sadly that has not been possible.
Haven't read the rest of it yet but please, please please never, use the word 'coruscating' (and learn how to spell it.)
At 49 years of age I have never ever heard the word used in conversation. I only ever see it written down by journalists to show their erudition. And by 'show their erudition' I mean show that they know the difference between 'coruscating' and 'excoriating'. And in fact, they only know that because they read it once in a 'style guide'.
And while we're on style guides - do try and stay away from the phrase 'let's be clear' - leave it to politicians, its one of their stocks.
Toynbee's comments would have been devastating had they come from anyone with credibility. She is a simply a rusty weathercock twisting in the political storm. As always she has, far too late, established the direction of the wind and is now desperately clinging onto her job.
Frankly I'd have more respect for any of her opinions had she beeen saying this sort of thing three years ago.
@ Anonymous 4:24 PM
"At 49 years of age I have never ever heard the word used in conversation."
Probably. Perhaps that's a measure of your milieu.
'Coruscating' and 'excoriating' are terms used regularly in this household - particularly when discussing anonymous comment and commenters on various blogs. Another arcane term we have been known to use in the same circumstances is 'pretentious buffoon'.
Another masterful analysis by Mr Parris - Why isn't someone of his analytical genius and political nous working full-time for the Conservative Party ???
'But compared to Gordon Brown, John Major is like Winston Churchill to Brown's Neville Chamberlain'
John Major is of course nothing like Winston Churchill. At least Major won a general election, Churchill I suppose lost one as badly as Major.
Chamberlain is nothing like Brown, Major or Churchill and this is the second time in a few months you have maligned him in your blogg. Chamberlain was a better Prime Minister than Brown or Major and compares badly to Churchill because it was Churchill who wrote the history. Churchill should have been sacked in 1940 after the Norwegian debacle, not Chamberlain (who was ill at the time and died shortly after). Churchill it was who denuded this country of its arms during the 1920's as Chancellor in a Liberal government. He crossed the floor twice and was always regarded with suspicion by members of both his parties. He was not liked by Labour either. His meddling in service matters during the war undermined the armed forces and some of his decisions cost us dear.
Churchill's reputation is over done. Chamberlain's on the otherhand will be re-established with time.
Lay off Chamberlain. He was a good Conservative Prime Minister during a difficult period for this country. He doesn't deserve your rather cheap jibes.
"David Miliband, Alistair Darling, Jack Straw, John Hutton and Alan Johnson know that it lies within their power to wrench the tiller from this man's hands."
First, who in their right mind wants to wrest the tiller of a sinking ship?
Second, what do they do with the tiller when they have it?
Third, will whomsoever still be leader a year after the next election and if so, what hope for any revival of a meaningful Labour Party?
The trouble is that they are tarred with the same brush.
Not a happy time to be a Labour MP or Labour supporter.
@DiscoveredJoys.
OMG, don’t rake up the Queen, the Forces, protest and impeachment, we’ve been there and done that when the Tories were in last time, and it’s so old hat and too absurd for words.
I urge you to lighten up and discover the joy of Giles Brandreth’s ‘Breaking the Code’ the hilarious account of Tory Govt. in the 90’s.
It’s a cracker as they say, and demonstrates beautifully that whoever’s in charge, panic backstabbing and disarray is par for the course.
Robert, Churchill was chancellor in a Conservative government (under Stanley Baldwin) - he had already "re-ratted" (to use his phrase) by then.
Whilst Chamberlain is in need for some revision, in my view this is in his former roles (especially minister for health and chancellor) not as PM where he really was not the right person.
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