Labour party

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Mandelson intervenes

From our UK edition

Is this the endorsement that Brown was looking for?  Sky and the BBC report that the Business Secretary is putting out the message that the PM has the support of his Cabinet colleagues. Meanwhile, the good folk at Comment Central are running a Cabinet Watch, tracking which members of the Cabinet have come out in support of Brown.  Only three, so far - although they haven't added Mandelson yet (or Ed Balls, who is currently on Sky talking about "getting on with the job").  All eyes on Darling, Johnson, Harman and Miliband now.

Fraser Nelson

What does the Cabinet silence mean?

From our UK edition

It's only been two hours, so how much can we read in to the silence from most of the Cabinet over the Hoon-Hewitt rallying cry? I didn't think Brown was in that much trouble, until I heard Margaret Beckett come on Five Live to defend him. Is that the best his defence operation can do? Beckett, Andy Burnham, John Mann, Tony Lloyd? In fairness, I wouldn't break my lunch to say something nice about Brown either - but his team at No.10 exists to defend him against his many Labour enemies. You can bet that, right now, there are scores of furious messages on Darling's and Mandelson's mobiles. Darling is, of course, close to Hoon, and Mandelson has been annoyed for weeks. Might he be about to explode? I hear he is due on television later.

Martin Bright

It Really is Now or Never this Time

From our UK edition

As Ben Brogan has pointed out, if the GH/PH plot was not conceived with the say-so of Peter Mandelson (or at least the nod) then it won't be going anywhere. At the same time, if Mandy tells Gordon that he must agree to the secret ballot then he will find ot very difficult to resist. But this really is the crunch time for the Labour Party. If it wants to avoid a decade of  wilderness it needs to nail this issue once and for all. The point is that David Cameron knows that the Prime Minister is his greatest electoral asset and without him all bets are off. It has become the lazy orthodoxy that Brown is the problem - lazy because it allows backbench MPs to avoid taking repsonsibility for the future of their party.

James Forsyth

The plot is on life support

From our UK edition

The Hoon and Hewitt attempt to force a secret ballot on Brown's leadership is not off to the best of starts. If it is not dead on arrival it is certainly on the critical list. Even those who think Labour would be better off without Brown are unimpressed by this attempt. One texted me just now saying 'outcome same as previous crap attempts: no change at top but shave 5% in polls.' Certainly, the timing seems poor. Trying to compete with the snow is not the best idea nor is launching this campaign at a time when Labour had managed to score some points against the Tories.

James Forsyth

A narrowly constructed plot

From our UK edition

Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt's letter calling for a secret ballot on the Labour leadership has wiped out a decent performance by Gordon Brown at PMQs and will revive stories about Labour division and Brown's unpopularity. It is a massive bonus for the Tories in what had been a disappointing week for them up to now. Hewitt is definitely a Blairite but Hoon is one of those who crossed over to the Brown side while Blair was still PM. However he is a disappointed man, he hoped for the Europe job that Baroness Ashton got to everyone's surprise. If Brown is to be ousted, though, I doubt it will be by these two: this is too narrowly constructed a plot.

Martin Bright

Gordon’s Winter of Discontent

From our UK edition

This really is a clever little wheeze from Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt. Why did no one think of a secret ballot before? People have been fixated on Cabinet delegations and rebels instead of calling Gordon Brown's bluff on this most serious of issues - democracy. The Prime Minister whom no one has voted into office, who stood unopposed for the leadership and who has surrounded himself with unelected ministers is now offered the perfect opportunity to give himself a mandate. Will he take it? I very much doubt it. My feeling from talking to backbenchers and ministers is that there is now a solid consensus that Gordon Brown is an electoral liability and that he would lose the balllot.

Peter Hoskin

Is there a Cabinet minister?

From our UK edition

There are rumblings in Westminster that a Cabinet minister is preparing to join Hoon and Hewitt in calling for a secret ballot on Brown's leadership.  H&H are claiming, quite laughably, that this whole process could actually strengthen Brown's position.  But ministerial involvment would clarify, beyond doubt, that this is actually a rebellion designed to weaken Brown.  After all, this is hardly the kind of thing which falls under the banner of collective responsilbity... The question now is: who, if anyone?  Obviously, the bigger the name, the more destabilising it would be.  Indeed, you feel that a Big Name might be required to give this sufficient momentum.  Could it be Tessa Jowell?*  Or might it be someone closer to the PM?

Peter Hoskin

Full Hoon and Hewitt letter

From our UK edition

Courtesy of Guido: Dear Colleague, As we move towards a General Election it remains the case that the Parliamentary Labour Party is deeply divided over the question of the leadership. Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance. We have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot. This could be done quickly and with minimum disruption to the work of MPs and the Government. Whatever the outcome the whole of the party could then go forward, knowing that this matter had been sorted out once and for all. Strong supporters of the Prime Minister should have no difficulty in backing this approach.

Peter Hoskin

Breaking: Hoon and Hewitt call for secret ballot on Brown’s leadership

From our UK edition

So says Nick Robinson.  More soon. UPDATE: The Standard has a copy of the letter which Hoon and Hewiit have sent out to Labour MPs.  Here's a key extract from the article: "Mr Hoon and Ms Hewitt warned: 'There is a risk otherwise that the persistent background briefing and grumbling could continue up to and possibly through the election campaign, affecting our ability to concentrate all of our energies on getting our real message across.' Mr Hoon and Ms Hewitt added: 'In what will inevitably be a difficult and demanding election campaign, we must have a determined and united parliamentary party. 'It is our job to lead the fight againstour political opponents. We can only do that if we resolve these distractions. We hope that you will support this proposal.

Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 6 January 2010

From our UK edition

Stay tuned for live coverage of PMQs from 1200. 1159: Should be kicking off soon.  You can watch proceedings live here. 1202: And here we go.  Brown starts with the usual condolences for fallen British servicemen - and adds a tribute for the late Labour MP, David Taylor. 1204: Brian Donohoe asks for an update on the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day.  Brown lists new security measures, and says that he's looking to better coordinate intelligence efforts. 1206: Cameron now.  He adds condolences for British servicemen and David Taylor. 1207: The Tory leader starts with our debt problem.  He lists international organisations - the OECD etc. - which have warned about Britain's debt.

James Forsyth

Mandelson is tiring of his ‘toy’

From our UK edition

Patrick Wintour’s piece on Peter Mandelson in today’s Guardian is the most thorough explanation that we’ve had yet of Mandelson’s ‘Garbo-esque silence’ since the PBR. Mandelson was clearly intensely frustrated and disillusioned by the PBR, and the presentation of it, backing away from his smart cuts strategy and instead returning to the crude investment versus cuts dividing line. One also gets the impression that Mandelson was irritated by Brown’s fundamental failings as a politician. Wintour writes that those who spoke to Mandleson before Christmas “heard a man frustrated by the prime minister's lack of focus, decision-making capacity, and strategic guile.

David Blackburn

Labour’s imminent bloodbath

From our UK edition

The latest instalment of the Labour leadership saga is available at a newsagent near you. Writing in the Independent, John Rentoul argues that Labour must avoid the ‘Oyster Card Error’. That is, ‘the gate beeps and the sign says, “Seek Assistance”. But do they? No, they try again.’ Loyal as ever, Rentoul believes that the party can only be renewed by the heir to Blair, David Miliband; Gordon Brown’s politics must be consigned to the footnotes of history, and Amen to that. However, whilst defeat at the polls will remove Brown it may not break his dedicated parliamentary support.

Tuesday

Martin Bright

Bring Back Party Animals

From our UK edition

Apart from the odd terrorist plot and the beginning of an already very nasty election campaign, nothing much has happened in my absence! Yes I had a nice Christmas and New Year, thanks. It certainly made a change from being threatened with a libel action by an Iraqi billionaire as I was last year. And yes, I was not entirely serious when I described the festive break as Winterval in my last post. I even attended a very traditional village nativity play and loved it.  The telly was traditionally dreadful. But one of the highlights of my Christmas was watching Matt Smith regenerate as the new Dr Who, which confirmed beyond any doubt the genius of the producers of the cruelly discontinued BBC poiitical drama Party Animals.

David Blackburn

The Tories are frustrating, but Labour is unelectable

From our UK edition

Ok, Coffee House has given the Tories short-shrift in recent weeks, but this is a reaction born of frustration. The election should be a walkover. At their best, the Tories have the radical policies, and to a certain extent the team, to rescue Britain from its current Labour-inflicted quandary. Yet the party remains tentative, fearful of its own shadow. It should not be. Labour deserves to lose, and not only in retribution for its record: the governing party has embarked on an open internecine war and is completely unelectable in consequence.

Peter Hoskin

Brown and out?

From our UK edition

Whether anything comes of it is a different matter altogether, but this insight from the Standard's Joe Murphy deserves pulling out: "A senior minister is said to be close to quitting in a move to destabilise Mr Brown, the Standard has been told. There is speculation among MPs that a big beast such as Chancellor Alistair Darling, Lord Mandelson or Justice Secretary Jack Straw might be willing to tell Mr Brown to go if the party falls into fresh turmoil." Paul Waugh and Channel 4's Gary Gibbon have more on the story, here and here.  As I pointed out at the weekend, it looks as though the rumblings about Brown's leadership are returning – and at the worst possible time for our PM.

Peter Hoskin

Is this Labour’s election slogan?

From our UK edition

I wouldn't be surprised if this Gordon Brown snippet gets deployed ad nauseam between now and the next election: "[Brown] described Labour as the party of 'prosperity not austerity'" If so, it's worth noting that it's a phrase that Ed Miliband used in several speeches last year (e.g. here, here and here).  But, whoever its author, it's hard to imagine it working for a governing party which has presided over one of the most spectacular busts in our history.

David Blackburn

War of attrition may prove to be Labour’s downfall

From our UK edition

The party that nearly bankrupted Britain has bankrupt itself. The Times reports that, once again, Labour’s coffers are bare and that the party is technically insolvent. David Blunkett, chairman of Labour’s election development board, is unequivocal that Labour cannot withstand an interminable election campaign, which is precisely why the stinking rich Tories have opened one. The money men have backed the Tories, which in itself is significant as money invariably gravitates to the coming power and vice versa. Historians of New Labour’s spectacular demise will argue that it was not the recession but the cash for peerages scandal that demolished the party’s electoral supremacy, forcing it back into the arms of the unions.

Peter Hoskin

Clegg keeps them guessing

From our UK edition

Yesterday was all Labour, Tories, Labour, Tories.  So, today, enter the Lib Dems.  Nick Clegg has an article in this morning's Times which, to be fair, is actually quite noteworthy.  His main point?  That the Lib Dems are a party in their own right, and will not be engaging in "under-the-counter deals" with the Big Two: "This year’s general election is likely to be the most open and unpredictable in a generation. So you have a right to know where we stand. I can promise voters wondering whether to put an “X” against the Liberal Democrats that there are no backroom deals or under-the-counter “understandings” with either of the other two parties." You can see why Clegg is broadcasting this message.

Monday

James Forsyth

The opening day of the long election campaign is a score draw in terms of media coverage but the big development is that Labour has lost one of its main tax dividing lines

From our UK edition

During an election campaign, the press like to obsess about who won the day. Up until 3pm, the consensus was that the Tories had. The media was pointing out just how absurd it was for Labour to criticise another party for having black holes in its fiscal plans. But then came David Cameron’s marriage gaffe which has evened up the coverage on the evening news broadcasts with the Six o’clock news going particularly hard on the issue. Cameron’s credibility is central to the Tory campaign so anything that depletes that is bad news for them. But in the long term, I think the most significant development today is one that is not getting much coverage on the TV news: Darling’s refusal to commit to not raising VAT.

Fraser Nelson

Is Cameron cowering in the face of Labour attacks?

From our UK edition

Say what you like about the Cameron project, but at least they are strongly committed to marriage. Aren’t they? Well, it seems, not now. I always suspected that the wonderful strength of Cameron’s rhetoric on marriage was not really matched by his policy – a rather paltry tax break. Now, it seems not even that is certain. "It's something within a parliament I would definitely hope to do," he said today. “We're not able to give people absolute certainty on everything.” Well not on everything – but what about on the few hard pledges that have actually been made? Or is Cameron really cowering in the face of Labour attacks that they would propose tax cuts for “the few” - a category which includes married couples?