Charles Clarke: Labour heading for 'utter destruction' under Gordon

I don't, for a moment,  suppose he'll take the hint and go of his own 
accord and as the Labour Party has nobody, it seems, willing to put 
their head above the parapet and force the issue we are probably 
stuck with this wreck of a prime minister until 2010 - even for  
another year and 9 months .    [retires under the table, gibbering)

Of course in years gone by the opposition would table a motion of 'no 
confidence' and large numbers of Labour MPs would find an urgent 
excuse to be somewhere else.  But with this Leader of the Opposition 
things will be allowed to drift and fester.  I hope I'm wrong but I 
fear I'm right

xxxxxxxxxxxxx cs
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TELEGRAPH   4.9.08
Charles Clarke: Labour heading for 'utter destruction' under Gordon 
Brown
Labour is heading for "utter destruction" at the next election under 
Gordon Brown's leadership, Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary, 
has said.

By Andrew Porter and James Kirkup

Mr Clarke said he would "not permit" the Prime Minister to lead the 
party to a catastrophic defeat.

His intervention revived speculation last night that Mr Brown will 
face pressure to stand down or be openly challenged this autumn.

Mr Clarke, a long time critic of Mr Brown, said that there was "deep 
and widely shared concern" in the party about the performance of the 
Government under Mr Brown.

This had raised the fear that Labour was "destined to disaster if we 
go on as we are".

The warning to Mr Brown comes after months of dismal poll results, 
election defeats and Cabinet tensions.

In the latest blow to the Prime Minister, his much-heralded plan to 
boost the housing market this week met with almost universal derision.

A leadership challenge by one of the close group of Blairite MPs has 
been expected since David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, wrote a 
controversial article which was seen as a clear challenge to Mr Brown.

Mr Clarke, like other close allies of Tony Blair, has kept publicly 
silent about Mr Brown's future in recent weeks, and the timing of his 
comments, in a magazine article, will only raise Brownite suspicions 
of a calculated attack on the Prime Minister.

Mr Miliband, a former aide to Mr Blair, has been dismissed by some of 
Mr Brown's allies as part of a plot by a small number of disaffected 
Blairites.

Writing in the New Statesman, Mr Clarke insisted that there are in 
fact deep concerns about Mr Brown's leadership across the Labour 
Party. Those fears sprang from genuine fears for Labour's electoral 
prospects under Mr Brown, he said.

One MP close to Mr Brown told The Daily Telegraph: "We have expected 
this. After the Miliband intervention we thought the follow up might 
come over the bank holiday weekend.

"That didn't happen, but the run up to the TUC conference next week 
was the next opportunity and I think that is now where we are. The 
Blairites - Clarke, Milburn and Byers - know they have to try and 
push the cause of Miliband soon or it will be too late."

But Mr Clarke is furious that MPs worried about Labour's plight are 
dismissed as Blairites.

He wrote: "It is inaccurate and misleading to dismiss as some kind of 
Blairite rump those who fear that Labour's current course will lead 
to utter destruction at the next general election. Similarly, there 
is no Blairite plot.

"There is, however, a deep and widely shared concern - which does not 
derive from ideology - that Labour is destined to disaster if we go 
on as we are, combined with a determination that we will not permit 
that to happen."

Mr Brown's allies, Mr Clarke said, had attempted to downplay the 
significance of Mr Miliband's intervention and those of other allies 
of the former prime minister.

He said: "Like 'Thatcherite', the word is not used kindly. 
'Blairite' (even 'uber-Blairite') is a lazy and inaccurate shorthand. 
It is intended not to illuminate but to diminish, marginalise and 
insult."
===========================
RADIO via PoliticsHome   4.9.08

1. Today Programme, BBC Radio 4  08:19
Clarke: Brown must change or go with honour

Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary


Mr Clarke said Gordon Brown either had to improve the government's 
performance both economically and in the polls, or stand down as 
prime minister within months.

He ruled out standing as a stalking horse candidate himself and urged 
others not to take such a "divisive" course, but said if Mr Brown 
refused to go cabinet members should force him out.

Speaking after his article in the New Statesman, in which he said 
Labour was heading for disaster without a change of direction, he 
said Mr Brown needed to, and could, establish his authority, get 
ministers working as a team and set out a clear direction.

But, he added: "There are many, many people now who are concerned 
about his ability to win the election. That is an almost universal 
feeling. But there is no clarity about a course of action."

Mr Brown had two options. "The first is for the performance of the 
government needs to improve significantly or, the second is for 
Gordon Brown to stand down as prime minister  with honour and have a 
proper leadership contest."

Asked how long the prime minister had to make his choice, Mr Clarke 
said: "It's a question of months really, whether he can deal with the 
situation. I am personally sceptical, I always have been, but I also 
think it is quite possible he could turn it around.

"Best for the country and the party would be if Gordon made his own 
mind up....and decided it had come to a point where it's better to go 
with honour," he said.

Failing that, it would be "up to the cabinet to decide what to do".

"Many in the cabinet share the view we are in great difficulty and 
doubt our capacity to get out of it," he said, adding they were not, 
though, ready "to talk to Gordon in the way I am describing".

Sky News  09:10

Later Mr Clarke spoke to Sky voicing his concerns over Gordon Brown's 
leadership.

"It is the right time for the Labour party to discuss how best we 
deal with this very poor political performance and the economic 
difficulties in an open way - I prefer an open discussion, to a 
discussion behind the hand and I think that that is the way to do it.

"We have to focus on the future and to decide how best we all as the 
Labour party face up to the future challenges we've got - and the 
biggest we've got at the moment is our low-standing within the public.

"It is best for Gordon Brown to face up to the problems himself, and 
if that doesn't happen, it is up to his colleagues in the cabinet to 
decide which is the best way to go."