Browsed by
Category: Labour

Could Martin wreak a terrbile revenge on Brown?

Could Martin wreak a terrbile revenge on Brown?

Mail Online Does he know too much about Brown’s role in expense-gate? There’s a must-read piece by Peter Oborne in the Mail this morning suggesting that if Gordon is complicit (sanctioning a confidence debate say) in Martin’s demise then the prime minister’s position could become even more precarious. Here’s a taster: “…..the Prime Minister’s supporters fear that if the Speaker believes Brown has betrayed him or been disloyal in any way, he is capable of wreaking a terrible revenge…Their greatest…

Read More Read More

So what’s the answer to the Mail’s question?

So what’s the answer to the Mail’s question?

Is Gord ready to “kill Martin off”? Of all the front pages this morning the one that gets to the heart of the matter is the Daily Mail – is the Prime Minister ready to make the parliamentary time available fot the confidence motion on his fellow Scot, Michael Martin to be debated? If he doesn’t Brown will face a mighty storm and possibly lasting and terminal damage to what remains of his political career. If he does then it…

Read More Read More

Is this why a Brown-led Labour will get slaughtered?

Is this why a Brown-led Labour will get slaughtered?

Is Gord just too inflexible for the modern age? A few weeks ago (before Smeargate) I bumped into an old mate who is now part of the team at Brown Central. He said he knew I wasn’t a great fan of Brown but what did I think of his man’s chances? I responded by saying that I thought Brown would get slaughtered in a general election campaign simply because he wasn’t nimble enough. In these days of 24/7 media coverage…

Read More Read More

Could Labour be heading for 3rd place in the Euros?

Could Labour be heading for 3rd place in the Euros?

The Sun Is it time to re-think June 4th betting? After arguing yesterday that UKIP that UKIP were unlikely to perform as well on June 4th as they did in 2004 I’m afraid I’m going to have to eat my words. For while we were all putting the focus on YouGov’s 22% share for Labour in a general election we over-looked the figures from an EU election voting intention question as well. There is a discrepancy between the body copy…

Read More Read More

Is HenryG right – this is the big news of the day?

Is HenryG right – this is the big news of the day?

Guardian online Will the Labour movement rise up against their leader? HenryG, a long-standing PB regular and contributor of guest slots about Labour’s internal workings, wrote on the previous thread that “…the big news today is the Polly Toynbee article on why Brown should go. Pretty devastating and gives clear instructions to the PLP.” The continuing expenses story, now with the focus on the Tories, has somewhat distracted from Polly’s totally damning column about Gordon and her call for a…

Read More Read More

Will Gord’s apology calm things down?

Will Gord’s apology calm things down?

Can Labour get the agenda back to the economy? After four frenetic days when the headlines and bulletins have been dominated by the MP expenses affair there’s been an apology by Gordon Brown. His precise words as quoted by SkyNews were: “We also, as politicians have a responsibility to show that people who enter our profession are there to serve the public interest and not their own..”I want to apologise on behalf of politicians on behalf of all parties, for…

Read More Read More

Is Burnley the key to the expenses betting stategy?

Is Burnley the key to the expenses betting stategy?

After the revelations could the LDs unseat Kitty Ussher? Burnley in north-east Lancashire is where my family comes from and, indeed, my grandfather was Labour mayor of the neighbouring town of Nelson in the mid-1930s. The very idea that it could be anything other than rock-solid Labour seems extraordinary. Yet I now think there’s a chance that the Lib Dems could take it – and if Burnley went this way what will it say about other places? There are three…

Read More Read More

Has Miliband sacrificed his chances for a push-chair?

Has Miliband sacrificed his chances for a push-chair?

Is he today’s biggest loser from the expenses fracas? This is David Miliband – third favourite in the betting to succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour party and someone who less than a year ago looked as though he might succeed. How the party must be relieved today that his half-hearted bid for the top last July/August fell flat? For otherwise party spinners would have to be explaining such things as why he’d sought to reclaim from us…

Read More Read More