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- NEC says “No” to calls for leadership papers. And Brown was the Invisible Man, again!
Comment at end
15th September, 2008
UPDATE 16th September – First Minister Resigns over Brown & leadership election
BBC BREAKING STORY
Minister ’set to quit’ over Brown
Gordon Brown’s leadership has been under the spotlight for several months
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A senior minister is ready to quit over concerns about Gordon Brown’s leadership, the BBC has learned.
The unnamed minister of state said he believed the prime minister had failed to show the vision needed to lead the Labour Party.
He said he did not believe Mr Brown was the man to “lead us to victory” and he could not continue to lie about it.
It comes as former cabinet minister Margaret Beckett warned Labour rebels to get behind Mr Brown.
The former deputy leader said voters would neither “understand nor forgive” the party if they focused on internal rows.
But speculation continues over Mr Brown’s future with an unnamed minister now threatening to resign.
He told the BBC: “There just comes a point where you say, ‘I can’t go on lying’, you can’t go on saying ‘I think Gordon Brown is the man to lead us to victory’ when you don’t believe it.”
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 What the prime minister is doing is concentrating on the issues that matter to the country – the situation in the economy, what is happening in the financial markets, Northern Ireland and crime  Prime Minister’s spokesman
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He said he had not come to a firm decision on whether to resign yet but he believed it was impossible for the government to continue without the question over its leadership being resolved.
So far more than a dozen MPs have called for a leadership contest, including former Labour minister Fiona Mactaggart and party vice-chair Joan Ryan.
Barry Gardiner was the third MP to leave his government post, days after Ms Ryan and junior whip Siobhain McDonagh were sacked for calling for a leadership challenge.
The Labour rebels are calling for leadership nomination papers to be sent out to all of the party’s MPs, to see if there is enough support for an election.
They need 70 Labour MPs to nominate a challenger if they are to bring about a leadership election. Last year Mr Brown was nominated by all but seven Labour MPs to take over as party leader.
‘Local difficulty’
Mrs Beckett and other senior Labour figures, past and present, have been rallying to Mr Brown’s defence.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander told the BBC he believed there was support for Mr Brown “across the party” and it was “unconvincing” to suggest there was significant support for another candidate.
And former transport minister John Spellar urged Mr Brown to take his cue from the former PM Harold Macmillan and dismiss the rebels as “a little local difficulty”.
The prime minister’s spokesman insisted the PM was focused on the big issues of the economy and public services.
He said: “What the prime minister is doing is concentrating on the issues that matter to the country – the situation in the economy, what is happening in the financial markets, Northern Ireland and crime.”
If this makes you want cheering up read this, sent by a regular contributor:
Fame Academy
They grew up to become stars of stage and screen, of literature and politics, of art and sport. But what were today’s celebrities like as children? Did they already have that spark that sets them apart? We track down their former teachers to find out.
Tony Blair
Fettes college, Edinburgh, 1966-1971. Colin Niven, French
I taught Tony French and German from the age of 13 to 16. He came top of the class in both, and I was delighted when he addressed the French parliament in French – a rare achievement for a British prime minister. His contributions to drama were very relevant to his political career. When he was 15, he appeared in Julius Caesar, playing Mark Antony, the supreme embodiment in Shakespeare of the subtle, skilled politician. Even then, Tony had this magnetic charisma and ability to sway people. He was a very gifted debater and won every round of the junior debating championship when he was 14. Some of the subjects that came up are rather interesting: “This house would make smoking illegal.” Of course, Tony did make smoking illegal.
He was also a natural sportsman. I made him my cricket captain and I remember David McMurray, the master in charge of rugger, saying, “Blair is the most courageous tackler I’ve ever seen.” He didn’t know fear and he’d hurl himself into the most terrifying situations. I thought he was very brave, because he’d suffered a lot of tragedy in his life, his mother having died and his father having had a stroke, and he was always cheerful. He had an engaging, slightly provocative nature, and an enchanting smile. The first ever girl to arrive at school was called Amanda McKenzie-Stewart; she was extremely pretty and clever and, not surprisingly, out of the entire school, she chose Tony as her boyfriend. At the time, he was very anti the combined cadet force, and very pro CND. That is an area where his views have shifted.
Ah! – “… the most courageous tackler … didn’t know fear … would hurl himself into the most terrifying situations … very brave”
And this: “… playing Mark Antony, the supreme embodiment in Shakespeare of the subtle, skilled politician. Even then, Tony had this magnetic charisma and ability to sway people. He was a very gifted debater and won every round of the junior debating championship when he was 14.”
That combination of attributes is needed now, methinks.
Shakespeare put so many human emotions and situations down on parchment it’s a wonder we need to think for ourselves any more. These have bitter relevance to today’s politics. More here.
- “I like your silence, it the more shows off your wonder.”
- “When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain”
- “Listen to many, speak to a few.”
- “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
- “’Tis one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall.”
- “Women speak two languages – one of which is verbal.”
- “Do you not know that I am a woman? When I think, I must speak.”
- “A woman would run through fire and water for such a kind heart.”
- “Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.”
- “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
Tags: 'I can't go on lying', 70 Labour MPs to nominate a challenger if they are to b, anonymous senior government minister ready to quite, Barry Gardiner, Douglas Alexander, former Labour minister Fiona Mactaggart, Gordon Brown's leadership, John Spellar, Margaret Beckett, minister about to resign over Brown, party vice-chair Joan Ryan, Siobhain McDonagh, you can't go on saying 'I think Gordon Brown is the man
