Will his own union not give his leadership bid its blessing?

If Gordon did not look such a certainty for the Labour leadership then this latest news about unions backing could have been an enormous blow. For as the Mirror writer, Kevin Maguire, notes in a blog piece on the Mirror web-site there a real chance that the new super union made up of Amicus and the T&G might not give Brown its endorsement.

This union, when the merger goes through, will be so large that its member will cast about one sixth of all the votes in the electoral college that will decide the Labour leadership – and for it not to be seen to be supporting Gordon sends out all sorts of bad messages,

In terms of the leadership election each of the individual members has a vote and might, or might not, be influenced by what their leaders are doing.

There’s been an easing of the Brown betting price to 0.27/1.

Mike Smithson