Labour rebellion growing steadily
Labour plotting against Gordon Brown is continuing to grow slowly but steadily with the news another backbench MP from the north-west has joined Gordon Prentice in calling for the prime minister to step down.
Graham Stringer, the MP for Manchester Blackley, called on the Cabinet to think about forcing a leadership challenge, saying “the PM’s role has to be up for discussion”.
Wondering aloud why Labour has “lost touch with the electorate, even in so-called heartlands constituencies,” Mr Stringer concluded the party “could not go on” as it has.
The comments comes as a former minister told a journalist at least ten junior ministers are willing to quit in order to force a change in leadership.
Meanwhile, fellow Labour MP George Howarth was forced into denying an attempt to rally support around justice secretary Jack Straw. Mr Straw has been touted as a good man to have a word in the prime minister’s ear and also as a possible caretaker figure, given the breadth of his support in the party.
But yesterday, bookmaker William Hill lowered the odds on Straw’s chances as it becomes increasingly clear he will not go act against Mr Brown.
Mr Howarth is understood to be collecting names for a letter to the Cabinet, making clear MPs want Mr Brown to resign.
Brown’s allies appear to be few and far on the ground, with reports emanating from Downing street the prime minister is becoming increasingly secluded and angry at the unattributed comments to the media going on around him.
Yesterday Gordon Prentice made his opposition to Mr Brown’s premiership clear.
“A prime minister needs a different set of skills from a chancellor of the exchequer,” he said.
“A prime minister must be able to persuade and enthuse. If not, the message is lost.
“I hope Gordon reflects during August and accepts it is in the party’s interests, perhaps his own, to stand down.”
But ministers are showing clear signs of closing ranks around the beleaguered prime minister.
Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, said: “Gordon Brown is proving himself as a prime minister in difficult times and should have the support of all of us.
“We can either talk among ourselves or talk to the public about what they are concerned about.”
