To answer my own initial question: Purnell has broken from the pack. He has done what David Miliband, conceivably Andy Burnham, and maybe John Hutton (of whom more in a moment), might have done and must have been thinking of doing.
Purnell has plunged a knife that has been waiting for such an exercise for some considerable time.
David Miliband was so badly bruised by events last autumn that I think he has effectively given up any ambition he had to become leader (and I’m not sure he had much in the first place).
Burnham is still too untried to have made much difference – hence the Burnham-Miliband cries of support for Brown in the aftermath of Purnell’s resignation.
So James Purnell becomes the front runner to position himself at least as the leader of the Blairite faction and maybe more.
Alistair Darling has seen off a serious bid by Brown to defenestrate him. It would have been very bad for the appearance of the government’s management of the economy. He has a better record as chancellor than brown himself thus far.
(Read Martin Kettle Guardian online: “Darling should stay but will be sacrificed for his honesty.” It spells out why in the end, despite its headline, Brown’s hands were tied).
The ambitious Ed Balls will now almost certainly never become chancellor of the exchequer. And that will in large part be due to his own involvement in “dark arts” mentioned in my earlier blog.
So that leaves the resignation of John Hutton, a nice man who reached the summit of his ambition in becoming defence secretary. He’s gone without much explanation and so far without negative comment on Brown.
But his mere removal adds to the sense of Brown’s powerlessness: a cabinet reshuffling itself.
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These people are suppose to be better than us,they are suppose to set us an example .Yet seeing the filthy, muddled state of Purnell’s flat during his expenses scandal I cannot make the connection with a sharp mind needed to sort out the works and pensions catastrophe facing the next generation of pensioners.
It’s almost painful to watch (emphasis on almost) as we now watch Labour into a party of infighting and division. Should we look on in glee as the New Labour falls so spectacularly from it’s little perch of power.
I have said for many months that I felt the General Election would happen in August and right now I don’t have any new information that would counter that belief.
But I’m wary as the BBC are like rabid dogs hunting for fresh Labour meat. They have wanted revenge since the Kelly affair and they won’t give up till an election is called.
Yet should we let the actions of a scorn media company control the political discourse of the nation? I highlight the BBC here as they are a publicly ran and right now they are dictating the public discourse on the issue through there fervent reporting of any issue which might damage the government. I look back to the Banking Collapse and a situation I saw to be exacerbated by the BBC’s dogged minute to minute reporting on the imminent fall of the worlds banks.
Yes reporting these issues are fine, but in a refrained, intelligent and measured manner. Not in a manner which is unbecoming of a respected institution.
Though I am for an election, I am truly worried of how this situation has come about and the power 24 hour television now has to not only report the news, but to make the news on a minute to minute basis to fulfil a long standing vendetta and to keep up ratings.
JB: A good post, and I haven’t seen the BBC coverage, but as for the Kelly Affair, I wonder about the bounds of dialectic reasonable-ness when a man who says “Er, I think they’re going to kill me in the woods” is then found dead in the woods.
EVERYTHING will have to come to the surface from New Labour Day 1 onwards if the country’s conscious is to be resolved.
I would hate your job, having to write a load of tripe day in and day our about issues which are not of primary importance.
There are far more important issues and I also wonder what is happening unnoticed while the media are busily distracting everyone’s attention with endless tedious commentary on the entirely predictable Cabinet resignations and equally predictable local election results.
well this wasn’t the lead story on the news last night. Brown only made third place.
Gibbon is the political editor. The government is falling to bits, what should be be talking about?
I do not agree with you Patrick.
The issue for me ‘load of tripe’ , your opinion.yes…not mine.
One of out great strengths is to write, comment and report…..just as you are doing….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZQGQGovY7s
I think this is apt for the current situation!
Phil.
Am I the only one puzzled by recent events? Pretty much no lasting effects from Blears’ tantrum, and Purnell’s resignation bouncing off everyone’s radar? And what happened yesterday? An as-usual low turnout, with everyone voting for the same Big Parties, just in a different order.
We blog-followers have been passionate about this expenses stuff, but life goes on as normal.
Maybe there’s a massive disconnect between the media’s concerns and the non-blogging public.
I think Gordon has probably managed plug a few holes today and stop the ship of state sinking immediately.
Trouble is, the ship of state is a colander…
Purnell and Blears are self serving political cowards. Not being a huge fan of Labour party, (all political parties really), at the moment, i would not normally care about this but these resignations. However they have been done to try and achieve maximum damage to the PM. However they have obviously lost sight of the bigger picture. Any Labour MP or activists, that thinks a leadership contest at this time would improve their chances at a general election is sadly delusional and probably should no longer be an MP because they can’t read the public mode.
These spiteful attacks on the PM only makes Labour look in more disarray, so apart from the expenses scandal, which engulfed all parties, they have created a new scandal that cannot the “shared” across the political spectrum. David Cameron must think he’s in heaven, instead of having a united Government with everyone fighting towards a general election victory, giving him a hard time about his lack of policies, you have people like Blears and Purnell with no spine for the fight.
The labour party was already going to struggle before the expenses scandal broke, there is no one at the moment in the labour Party who can take over from Gordon Brown as leader and do a better job. If you think you have a slim chance with Gordon Brown, you definitely have NO chance with any other Labour leader at this time, like it or not.
Perhaps you are correct, but you could say the exact same for the opposition parties. The more I watch the destructive behaviour the more I see the behaviours mirrored through the rest of society. They all need to go and the institution needs replaced. David Cameron and Nick Clegg will always be remembered as the two men who encouraged a Nation of bullies to pick on one man. Shame is what he should feel!!!
I personally don’t understand why MP’s are begging for Brown to quit, as even if he did leave, the issues will still stand. MP’s from all parties still used taxpayers money. The problem has not gone away. There is still no trust/confidence and between the taxpayer and the government. Instead of trying to find an escape goat as a way of making a difference and illustrating to the public that they are changing, The collectively need to need to physically show the public that they are again trustworthy, by collectively making fundamental changes to the institution as a whole and solving real issues that matter to the public, for instance Unemployment and the economy.
Well the thing is they want rid of Brown more anything else. This strikes me as odd, perhaps they know that Brown is brave enough to carry out massive reform. Perhaps getting a puppet like Purnel in the PM’s seat would be easier to manipulate. Until they get an election at least.
I don’t know
James Purnell has struck with seismic timing to set him aside from the pack.
Political debate cannot flow without reference to his act and resignation letter. The Labour Party and the electorate may well rally to his standard.
Political power requires focus. James Purnell has generated wider focus by his courageous resignation letter, more statement of intent, than Dear Gordon ..etc.
Leadership…!
I worked at a polling station in the village where I live. We monitored the turnout throughout the course of the day. By close it was almost 49%. With the high postal vote it turned out to be nearer 63%. It would be interesting to see what the split is between urban voting patterns and rural voting patterns, the latter much more likely to be higher I think.
Also. An old lady, staying in a village care home, struggled into our village hall polling station to vote, totally unaided, but clearly with some difficulty. She handed her card over and was given her voting papers, and then she said, “Right! Show me where the booth is.” It turned out she was totally blind. She wanted the names read out to her so she could tell me where to put the two crosses for her, one on each paper. Then she said to me. “I hope you’ve voted too. Men and women died for this years ago.” Then she said, “And it’s the only way to make the buggers listen!!”
I agree entirely
The events which have occurred yesterday and today are unprecedented. However, no amount of reshuffling and “musical chairs” will detract from the fact that the UK is in need of fundamental change and reform.
Even if our unelected Head of State dissolved parliament tomorrow and the resulting general election brought in a new party, issues will remain the same. This is because fundamentally there is very little difference between any of the parties and an underlying “unwillingness” for real change.
I believe the electorate feels disengaged with politics and this accounts for the continued low turn out at elections.
For me the only way forward..is..revolution..However, the only cry from MPs at the moment seems to be “ahoy shipmates, get ready to jump ship”.
Natasha, I agree whole heartedly!!!
We don’t want RID of GORDON BROWN per se WE want a REVOLUTION (of sorts)…….No ELECTION lets calmly figure out what we want to do. Quickly before all this HYPE leads us to a New yet equivalent government thus ensuring that the people are certain to disengage again.
I share some of your disillusion with the lack of obvious differences between the parties, especially since our current economic model remains little changed since the awful days of Thatcher.
I do wonder if Brown is not also the victim of our vacuous celebrity culture. He’s not telegenic and he’s clearly not comfortable doing things like YouTube. Strikes me he’s an old school politician with real substance, some dreadful flaws, and the man who just a few months ago was striding around the world stage and providing astonishingly confident and decisive leadership to the G20.
If he is forced out I will be really depressed. Unless Alan Johnson takes over. I predict a Labour win next year if he does. Meanwhile we’re going to have to put up with the BBC in particular desperately trying to trip him up in every interview so they can break the story that ‘even Alan Johnson wants Brown out’. Anything can happen in these ridiculous days when being handsome matters if you’re PM and journalists have stopped reporting the news and are instead trying to make it.
Democracy is dead in the UK. Even before the obvious rout of Labour in the local elections, their MP’s were out preaching from a script issued to them from “Liebore” central. Hain doing the studio rounds spouting drivel the “he has not seen any indication from the public that they want a general election” was probably the most ludicrous. Unfortunately our media seem to be incapable of putting them on the spot and forcing them to admit their shamefaced lies. For years the politicians have complained about a dis-interest in politics, why? When we vote they ignore it and try to tell us “what this really means”. Do us a favour, call an election, and make it soon.
James Purnell…the man who wasn’t there. The man who was airbrushed in. Now the man who isn’t there anymore. Un-noticed and un-missed.
Well, now we have a new cabinet. Mmm! What a cabinet, I’ve seen a more solid stuff at the tip. We now have a First Secretary of State who certainly seems to think he has similar power and charisma to Hilary Clinton. So third time lucky for him then. I don’t think Peter Hain is so much in favour as much as he is all that is available.He and Mandy are like revolving doors. David Milliband’s flame has left his eyes. All that you can see there now is weary resignation, but clearly not enough to actually go. As for Lady Kinnock, to be. That must be a real smack in the chops for Lord Neil of Tried for Donkeys Years and Couldn’t Get Anywhere and You Come Along and Flounce In.
In a lot of companies husbands and wives are still not allowed to work together. Could that be that when they see each other, in this case, over the cabinet table, or will chairs be shuffled so they can sit side by side, they often realise how useless the other one is?
They really should be put out of their misery
The whole political system is in ruins. Let’s just remind ourselves of the list that MPs didn’t want us to see. It’s the list of expenses claims in the Telegraph. See if you can count the cost: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5297606/MPs-expenses-Full-list-of-MPs-investigated-by-the-Telegraph.html
Well, the cost has been out of the general publics personal wage packets.
Just one exposed story from the ‘Gentlemans Club’.
It seems to me that the only outcome from this which will restore public trust if, at a general election, people currently not professional politicians are elected. Ideally they should be people of strong opinions and principles (rather than mere celebrities like the admirable but inadequate Lumley).
I can think of no better person to lead such a movement than your good self, Mr. Snow.
I hear some people saying that politicans should earn more money in line with other highly paid positions but was the whole point of them not getting a yearly pay rise was to maintain the moral high ground when refusing nurses and other public sector workers a better pay rise in line with rising costs and finding it harder to become first time buyers never mind own two houses and all the latest mod cons you can eat its seems to me they see exepences as some sort of behind the scenes pay rise that they feel entilted to they dont seem to think they have done anything wrong.
That they were acting within in rules what they were doing was blatant dishonesty claiming for morgages that have been paid for and duck houses is criminal nobody else would get away with it i cant believe nobody in goverment had the integrity to come foward sooner to exspose this abuse of trust when did going into politics become about making money i thought it was about making a diffrence when i was a we boy you wanted to be a politician to change the world.It wasnt because you wanted to find somewhere for ducks to stand when its raining i know this is nothing to do with james purnell but iam still amazed by the exspences scandal.
If Gordon Brown resigns, the caretaker PM will be automatically be the Deputy PM. Thanks to Mandelson’s recent elevation to that position, this means he would automatically become the next Prime Minister until the long process of choosing another has been completed.
This is how Brown and Mandelson have stitched up the nation, ensuring that Labour MPs will never be able support such a travesty and therefore cannot remove Brown who is now superglued into Number 10. Brown only has to threaten to resign, to shut them up. That’s his trump card and he’s desperate enough to play it.
We’ve all been stitched up, not just the Labour Party. Are the Labour Party proud of what they’ve done to our democracy?
The problem is that Brown is not the man of substance he likes to think he is. He has confused strategy with the petty political tactics in which he excels. His government has been almost perfectly incompetent and substitutes garbled over-complicated legislation for government. I think that it is Brown’s total lack of experience of anything outside politics which means that he simply does not know how to govern effectively.
In no sense is this more evident in the full horror of the credit crunch. He more than any single other person was responsible for the further relaxation in credit controls in the Western World. He doesn’t understand that what was right ten years ago was no longer right 5 years ago and required action by his Treasury to rectify. He abjectly failed to act because he could see no further than the need to manoeuvre against the Conservatives in the short term.
The whole experience has been a total and utter shambles and for the good of the Country he should go – now.
I hear some people say that polticians should be paid more in line with other importent positions but was the whole point in them not taking a yearly pay rise to maintain the moral high ground when refusing nurses and other public sector workers a pay rise in line with rising living costs and the diffculties they were having becoming first time buyers never mind two houses and all the mod cons you can eat.
They dont seem to think they have done anything wrong it seems to me that they see there exspences as some sort of behind the scenes pay rise.What they have been doing is totally dishonest nobody else would get away with it and the ones that have claimed for morgages that have been paid for and duck houses is just criminal when did being a poltician become about making money i thought it was about making a diffrence when i was a we boy you wanted to be a poltician to help change the world not to find somewhere for ducks to sit when it was raining.
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