The claws are out in the Labour Party

Meltdown in the Labour Party has reached that stage, only too familiar to me, when MPs don't mind what they say or who they say it to.

Politely talking to one Labour member,  while in the presence of a member of the Shadow Cabinet, I asked him gently to what he thought we owed Labour's decline in the polls.

Instead of giving an involved explanation he replied:

Oh that's easy to explain. Our Leader is utterly useless. If you asked him which of the two doors from this room he was going to exit from he would be incapable of choosing. And if someone else chose the door for him he wouldn't be able to make his way there.

Yesterday, chatting with one of his colleagues, I learned that Gordon Brown was not the only one to earn contempt:

The one good thing about global warming is that as the waters rise, Hazel Blears will drown first.

Comments

[Richard]

Meltdown indeed. They know they're on the way out and are trying to force as much change as possible before being politely (but firmly) shoved out of office for the next decade...

[Roland of Amersham]

"The one good thing about global warming is that as the waters rise, Hazel Blears will drown first."

Absolutely priceless :-)))

[Dan]

I'm nuts about Hazel! If there's one person who will be flushed down the pan of historical oblivion with Gordon it has to that dreadful cartoon character Ms Blears.

[wrinkled weasel]

Richard says
"Meltdown indeed. They know they're on the way out and are trying to force as much change as possible before being politely (but firmly) shoved out of office for the next decade..."

I think you will find that in another era it was defined as a "scorched earth" policy.

[Jonathan M. Scott]

Do you mean this is Labour's Claws 4 Moment all over again?

[David Moss]

The claws are out in the Guardian, too, see for one example among many, wall-to-wall, Jonathan Freedland's 'A year in, it's clear: we got Brown wrong. He is simply not up to the job', http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/18/gordonbrown.labour

[Andy]

Oooh, a vilified character, back stabbing, demands for an eviction, and all set amongst the backdrop of a Big Brother mentality.

Don't Channel4 already have the rights to this show?

[Paul]

These guys would do well to remember that it's not just the leader causing the problem... He's merely the unfortunate recipient of eleven years of resentment over broken promises and a society in 2008 that's far divorced from what people aspire to.

Instead of blaming Brown, the Labour rank and file should simply remember these words:

1) Taxes
2) Immigration
3) Transport
4) Housing
5) Referendum
6) Bureaucracy

These are the reasons why I've sworn never to vote Labour again.

[Steve, London]

re: "I think you will find that in another era it was defined as a "scorched earth" policy.""

oh, you are *so* right there, that's exactly what they're doing.

ie Destroying what little is left of the country on purpose so that the people who come in afterwards have an almost hopeless task and thereby the successor gets the blame for people having a hard time.

History repeats itself I guess because it was the same in the late 70's when labour last destroyed the country.

Mind you, the cynic in me thinks that Labour have had a scorched earth policy ever since 1997 when they got elected, because they didn't believe that their luck would be so good as to be able to fool people again into believing that they had any sense of competence in another 5 years' time.

So, perhaps we've actually had 12 years of scorched earth, and that's why things are so bad now.

Or, perhaps labour are just mind-numbingly stupid with every thing that they do; I'm open minded on the matter; whether it's purposeful destruction or negligent "accidental" destruction is kind of 50/50 odds for me; could be either.

[DanielSalaman]

Never in the entire history of British politics we had such an incompetent Prime Minister like Gordon Brown. Was it Britain's destiny for a man like Gordon Brown to became Britain's Prime Minister without a single vote from the British public? Cameron must thank his lucky stars if G.B STAYS IN POWER till the end of his term in office ,it will be such an easy Conservative Victory for the coming elections. I fail to understand G.B That he has not comprehended yet that his time was up almost right from the start. People in Britain will never accept a forced P.M. on them. After all Gordon Brown was never, a charismatic politician or a good diplomat, his moody personality did not help him much eight er. Furthermore he made uncountable political mistakes in a very short period OF TIME in power, one disaster followed the other. What he is expecting the public to do ? to force him out? Unfortunatlly Mr Brown has no respect for him self, otherwise he would have already step down from power some time ago. Quite pathetic i say he is nothing but a hopeless case. However i also hold the NEW LABOUR party responsible for not having the nerve to ask the Prime Minister to resign, in good time, so to save the party's future catastrophe, of the next elections. The entire nation is facing a sad state of political affairs in today's Britain. Mark my words Gordon Brown will go down in BRITAINS history as the most incompetent politician that Britain ever had. There was a time that Britain was admired for its best politicians in the world, but that is not the case to day.

[Steve, London]

So, for all the labour MPs and media commentators who are currently moaning about Brown being a dangerous incompetent idiot, where were they when Brown first started his job as chancellor and began on his quest to destroy the economy back in 97?

Anyone with half a brain could see all those years ago how dangerously stupid he was and how he had no grip of basic maths/logic/reason and that he was a sociopath.

Ever since 1997 all my friends, work colleagues and family saw him for what he was.

The city did its ostrich impression and put its head in the sand, the media just went along with an anti-tory line regardless of what was going wrong, and labour MPs were perhaps too stupid to know what damage was being done.

It's been on the cards since 97; it's just that the media have only just woken up to it now that Brown's long years of negligence has started to physically hit people's pockets.

Shame on the media and labour MPs and the city for not reporting that the emperor was wearing no clothes over 10 years ago.

[Peter]

It is such a pity Jaqui Smith is a couple of inches taller than Hazel Blears!

[Diversity]

It seems that David Davis "loony", "crazy" gesture has got right in among New Labour.

I trust that when the waters rise, the "honourable gentleman" (could it be Andy Burnham?) who wished to see Hazel Blears go under first will find he has a smaller majority to lose than she has.

[David Gillies]

Steve@14:44 - I did indeed see the writing on the wall when Labour took power in 1997. There's never been a Labour government that didn't end in some sort of catastrophe. Frankly I'm amazed that it's taken this long for the damage they've done to become so apparent. But right off the bat it was inevitable they were going to wreck the place. I said at the time that a Labour victory would mean my leaving Britain, and I bailed out in 1999. Wisest decision I've ever made in my life.

[syd]

I'm afraid your all underestimating GORDON he is achieving what he most wants (apart from lots of loot)the utter destruction (VIA th EU) of England, and he is ding it with the consent of the unions who belive the EU will give them what they want (they won't) and the are so stupid they keep falling for the con trick (and paying for there own funeral in the process)if there is a god which i doubt hope he comes to the rescue

[MikeV]

Ahh yes.. Blears the "Duracell bunny" gets her come uppance at last. It's that smug look all the time that seems like she has been slapped around the face with a wet fish.
Ok not very PC I have to admit(Thats politically correct not personal computer)

[Donna Walker]

Gordon hasn't done for NuLabour for 10 years. His (and Bliar's) legacy will be the total destruction of Labour as a political force in the UK.

Botched devolution has handed Scotland over to the control of the SNP. The BNP (if they have sense) will become the English National Party and will hit Labour in their northern heartlands which have suffered so much through Labour's immigration policies. The Tories will wipe them out in the South and the LibDems will only hang on in the west.

All we need now is for UKIP to make inroads on the Tories and join with the BNP to become the real party of opposition.

[Roger]

How tall is Yvette Cooper?

[Diablo]

"It is such a pity Jaqui Smith is a couple of inches taller than Hazel Blears!"

That "Booby", Smith - she'd float anyway!

[Dr. Mike Homfray]

But given that the Tories have precisely no workable alternative policies and if they do come to power, it will be in the economic doldrums, how long before the negativity extends to them?

[HaverstockBill]

The Labour government have survived for as long as they have as their tenure coincided with a once-in-an-eternity coincidence of benign economic factors - the escape from the ERM straitjacket on so-called "Black Wednesday"; oil prices as low as $12 in 1998; cheap manufactured goods from China keeping the lid on inflation; cheap labour from Eastern Europe keeping the lid on wage inflation.

All of these factors have now gone. During the longest period of economic growth for 200 years the Labour government still borrowed at record levels AND taxed future income (pensions) - all of which may have been forgiveable if it had resulted in world class public services to shame Scandinavia.

Needless to say, the entrenched problems of the public sector are as intractable as ever, while the level of public and private debt is at vertiginous levels as we approach a downturn. And those world class public services...?

The one consoling fragment of good news coming out of all this is hopefully that the high tax and spend model will finally have been laid to rest once and for all.

Sadly though, memories are short, and one wonders what form the next incarnation of state socialism will take when an economically successful Conservative government finally gets entangled in sleaze after 2025 and the ensuing bunch of leftist authoritarian charlatans get their hands back on the controls.

[david]

Steve is right[no pun]. In 97 it was so obvious,as it was in the next two elections.Just look at the "real life" experience on view at PMs questions,Harman,Straw,Smith,either of the Milibands,and Des Browne[Uusually two seats.Sometimes Balls is there,though this Goverment doesnt have any.Hazel,the thinking mans crumpet,who will continue smiling even if the waters rise?Its was so obvious,a team of people without any busines experience whatsoever,Lecturers,Teachers,Local Politicians,Trade Union Officials,and Lawyers/Legal people.The NHS was put in the control of a person whose claim to fame was the running of a bookshop?
You have had what you deserved for 11 years.Nice people,good intentions,but short on delivery.Labour ceased to be "working class" a long long time ago,many of them have never had a real job.Dont get it wrong again in 2 years time?

[James]

Its not GB thats the problem it's these me 2 conservative minister's who have ruined things for us. GB said Labour is at it's best when it's bold and Labour, not nu-labour. Lets sack the blairites and get some good ministers with a backbone that understand ordinary peoples problems.

[martin brighton]

All the above can be summed up in one word for nulabor: - corrupt

[DanielSalaman]

The claws are out in the Labour Party. But they are only out to fight the one, who would get into the arena to Challenge Gordon Brown. It is quite obvious that nobody dares enough, within the NEW LABOUR PARY as they are all more or less quite happy to remain to their comfortable safe chairs. In my opinion there is not even one single member in the NEW LABOUR PARTY that believes that they are going to win the next general elections. The tragedy of the present situation is that to day Britain is like a ship out in the rough sea WITHOUT A CAPTAIN. Our only hope is to see this nightmare to come to an end. I live and i pray for this day to come soon. Gordon please go home enough is enough.

[judy]

People need to look a little further than Brown. Labour politicians have been absolutely complicit in the con. It is Labour that are to blame for the trouble yet to come and Labour should pay the price. The fact that Brown isn't as 'glib' and doesn't use the 'patter' as much as Blair, Campbell, Mandelson etc shouldn't mean that he carries the entire blame for Labour's unpopularity now. The word 'scapegoat' springs to mind.

[Jeremiah]

From the way Nu Labour are wrecking the country its obvious that we need a written Constitution,to potect us from Labour and the EU. And with our rights defined we needn't bother with all this 'Human Rights' crap.BUT I dread to think what Trotski-ite horror Labour would foist on us.

[Linda Stewart]

It is not only Brown. All his obnoxious hangers on in the Labour Party, whose names read like a list of diseases one would not want to catch, have equal blame.

[rhodri oliver]

What has never failed to amuse me is the way Labour manage to irratate the largest number of people with the smallest number of policies. No government has been able to condense such a large number of failings in so short a space of time and not have some sort of armed uprising (Wat Tyler?). We have suffered some of the single-most destructive and unpatriotic leadership ever to grace tjis country. I can only continue to enjoy the show...

[oldasiahand]

The next two years are going to be awful economically. better that the Tories inherit the Government when the economy is at its nadir than when it is plummeting. That way they can get credit for the modestly better times aheaad after 2011.

[Phil]

The irony of it is the chickens have really come home to roost. It started before the election- the labour party concentrated on changing the electoral boundaries- smart move made it easier for them to get in... Then the control freak Gordon Brown had is fingers in everything, he was perfectly positioned controlling the treasury...no money no progress on anything-he was the man in charge. He's raided our pockets beyond belief-stealthily early on but blatantly now. His first move on dividend tax removal on pensions cost us all over £70Bn from our pensions, then stampduty, car taxes, petrol taxes, expenses taxes, National insurance, airport taxes, council taxes, green taxes (have they planted any trees yet from these tax receipts?)it's frightening how much we pay, and worse how much they waste... He's removed our freedoms- council snoopers, lotteries for school places, selling off the playing fields, increasing MP's perks, hiding their expenses...at the same time ours streets are not safe and our schools are broken. As prime minister now- the honeymoon is over, the control freak sees the blame coming back because, funnilly enough, the electorate is not completely stupid. It absolutely should come back to him-he's been at the helm, hding behind "the mouthpiece Blair" for 10 years! He's not a leader, he's an autocratic beauraucrat, who want's to dictate to all of us how to run our lives, and try to control it all with our money... this man and his party must go. So incredibly glad it seems the whole country has woken up before we get a British version of Mugabe.. a man who believes he has the right to run a country when he was not elected.

[Mario Dunn]

Hey you Tories out there!

If David Cameron gets in - make sure you hold him to the following promises:

EU Referendum
Cutting back on immigration
Maintaining current levels of public spending
Tax cuts

GUESS WHAT - HE AIN'T GONNA DO ANY OF THOSE. Never before has such a phony saleman conned and then failed to deliver - even before he has got into office.

[peter]

has anyone noticed that gutlessGordon's favourite phrase is, "Iwant"- I think he thinks he is some kind of king

[Chris K]

It's too easy for everyone to blame Brown - the other Labour ministers and MPs are hardly outstanding examples of competence and intelligence.

I do look forward to Hazel Blears going under first though. Whichever Labour MP made that remark deserves a reprieve!

[sweetalkinguy]

Gordon Brown the most incompetent/worst Prime Minister ever? Have people forgotten Edward "Three-day Week" Heath and Jim "Winter of Discontent" Callaghan? To say nothing of Major, Eden, Churchill post-1951. Brown might not even be the worst Prime Minister of the 21st Century.

It is absurd to suggest that Labour are deliberately queering the pitch. They aspire to win next time (2010 probably), whatever their expectations, they already have problems enough.

[don massey]

Every time I see a photo of Mr Brown he looks like he's had one go too many on the waltzers, then if I look at him too long it feels like I've had a go too many on the walzers.

[Slick salesman]

They're between a rock and a hard place. Damned if they kick him out, and damned if they don't. The only outlet for their frustrations is moaning and bitching. Well, at least we can enjoy the defenestration at third-hand. I trust you will report more of these sayings as the ides of March approach.

Gordon Brown has always had ideas above his station. His desperate coveting of the PMs role was visible from way back, you could practically see him salivating: "my precious"..... However, he is a man that does not understand his own limitations and, rather like Gollum, he wanted to wear the ring and wield its power without in any way possessing the discipline, acumen, principles or charisma of a leader.

As the Chinese say, be careful what you wish for. Gordon Brown wanted fame - he will get infamy. Indeed, you can almost hear him quoting Frankie Howerd.... I am sure he will be saying this more frequently in the days to come, but, to no avail.

Brown and his goats are like people trapped in a loveless marriage. They will continue to bitch at each other without prospect of divorce, inflicting increasing damage until finally, one snaps, and does the dirty deed, thus taking them both out of the game. In the meantime, all we are able to enjoy, thanks to him, is this spectacle, so bring it on Daniel.

[Bob]

If hindsight was a drop of water, we would all be drowning.

I hereby predict that the next Tory government (whenever that may be) will make a pigs ear of it at some point and be ousted at the next election.

I can then come back and brag "I told you so".

[John Morgan]

What surprises me is why it is taking so long for the labour party to realise that they are going out and fast. They are talking about a successor to Gordon Brown that may resurrect the party before the elections. When did this country become so much like a banana republic that political parties can just pass the leadership of the country around to the next person to try out his skills at running things? The government does not have a majority in parliament anymore, we saw that with the 42 day vote where Brown was saved by the 9 votes of the Democratic Union. Convention has it that he should call a general election but will he do that? Oh no, he has been sitting in the shadow of Blair for so many years and is still basking in the limelight without realising that everybody is laughing at him. Blinded by the light so to speak. My mother left the UK in 1976 when things were going to the dogs. Thatcher came in and saved the day. She built things up. I came back to the country a few years ago just in timet to see Labour run the country to the ground again. Now we need another conservative government to put things back in place, the problem is whether the present convservatives are capable. What an absolute mess. I think it is time to leave again.

[David Moss]

Guardian boot input continues apace ...

This from Larry Elliott:

QUOTE

Ministers do not only insist that Britain's problems are imported from overseas; the second part of the mantra is that this country is "well placed to come through the current global financial turbulence". All that is required is the insertion of the word "not" before the "well" to make that statement true, because Britain is supremely badly placed to withstand the crisis. For the past few years, the three main engines of growth for the economy have been the City (traumatised by the credit crunch), a booming property market (now in freefall) and the government itself (now flat broke).

UNQUOTE

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/25/economics.gordonbrown/print