Gordon Brown must go. Deadline: June 5 | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian .
Very hard to dispute this one, and I'm not a member of the Labour Party.
The reality is that is Labour collapses under Brown at a general election Labour will disappear into a black hole for a long time.
If it gets rid of Brown beforehand the opprtunity to rebuild will have been created.
It's a choice out of desperation - but nothing else makes sense for Labour.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Fine, except who would succeed? We know the good uns – McDonnell, Mitchell, Meacher – have no general support within the PLP. I was horrified a couple of days ago to hear a seasoned commentator recommending one of the younger crew who presents beautifully and has excellent credentials. I know him to be a complete airhead when it comes to anything substantial.
Personally I’d rather stay with the devil we know until we can start doing some clearing out of the stables. The present expenses fiasco should prompt some of them to quit politics in disgrace. And I’m sure some of the rightwing mob will walk to the Tories when they get into power (hopefully without an overall majority).
another interesting headline, but you cut it off a bit short. You are missing “to the coutry sometime during 2010”. You might recall that a week is a long time in politics, and Gordon is a ducker and diver of some ability.
Interesting to see Ms Toynbee’s change of heart though. And no remorse!
I appreciate that this is somewhat tangental, but hopefully adds a little by way of illumination as to why it is that the PM and his sidekick the Chancellor have been so behind the ball during this crisis, and why before it they did so much to pre-empt and not avoid it.
Many years ago I was a member of the Scottish Labour Party, and it was in this capacity that in 1987 I and a couple of dozen other poor footsoldiers of the Edinburgh Central Constituency were summoned to a pre general election meeting above a pub adjacent to the city’s Haymarket railway station. As was not uncommon at these events a certain amount of beer was consumed before the guest speaker arrived, which in this case was the newly selected prospective candidate Alistair Darling. What struck me then and has remained with me since was what a strange and intellectually unimpressive individual he was. After a barely coherent ramble lasting no more than a couple of minutes he thanked us all for turning out and wished us well in our forthcoming canvassing. Platitudes aside, what really threw me that night and has continued to irritate and intrigue in equal measure ever since wasn’t his grey banality and monotone delivery, but a line early on in his speech where he thanked us for coming out to support him, something he greatly appreciated as he knew that we would have many better and more enjoyable ways of passing the time….”such as book clubs”, etc, etc.,
Now I know that this all sounds a little pedantic, but I in common with my fellow party members had only heard such a term used in the context of per-war workers self education. Book clubs where a historical curiosity and weren’t to re-enter the popular conscientiousness for at least another decade. Why he used this particular term of reference has baffled me ever since and the only explanation I can muster is that this apparent slip of the tongue actually betrayed an unsettling reality namely that like many of his peers Mr Darling really isn’t that bright. And that “rabbit in the headlights” look that is his stock in trade isn’t an act designed (however flawed in execution) to persuade us of his gravitas and detachment, but is in fact the real life incarnation of Peter Sellers’ character “Chance” in the film Being There. The behaviour of a simple fool in circumstances utterly beyond his ken.
I’m not so sure it makes sense for Brown to quit before the election. There will be a much cleaner opportunity to rebuild if Brown “takes the hit” from an electoral wipeout, resigns immediately after the election, and gives way to a leader who can rebuild the party with a genuinely progressive agenda. If Labour changes leader now there’s no real reason to believe its polling will improve – there might be a boost for a few weeks or so but come the election, Labour is likely to be in the same very big hole. It could be seen as a complete gimmick, and result in Labour doing EVEN WORSE at the election than under Brown.
It is quite possible the Conservatives will make a complete hash of things when they get into office – and I think any recovery from the current economic depression will be faltering at best. Under a competent and radical leader, I think Labour stands a reasonable chance of getting back into office in 2014 or so – although obviously predictions are very difficult that far down the line.
I think Polly Toynbee is one of the best journalists we have in the UK but on the particular issue of whether Brown should go or not, she has changed her mind at least 4 times in the last 2 years…