Harman: I’m not going for the top job
By Ian Dunt
Harriet Harman has tried to play down rumours she is positioning herself for a shot at the top job, after a week standing in for the prime minister saw her make several high profile statements.
The deputy Labour leader told BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour she would not “tippy-toe” around big issues like a “shrinking violet”.
The comments come after a week which saw her exert her authority in Westminster.
Yesterday, a planned review of conviction rates for rape was delayed until later in the year after Ms Harman expanded its remit.
That move was said to anger home secretary Alan Johnson and justice secretary Jack Straw, although solicitor general Vera Baird described talk of a rift as “a piece of silly season reporting”.
Earlier, Ms Harman had raised eyebrows after she told the Times men “cannot be left to run things on their own”.
The comments were taken as an attack on Gordon Brown’s leadership style, which has been said by some women ministers to be too macho.
