Who are the "Handful"?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2008

Who are the "Handful"?

Guido has yet to see a list of the "handful" of MPs who want a leadership election. So with the help of you co-conspirators shall we compile the list?Guido will start it off:

Openly
Janet Anderson
Stephen Byers
Charles Clarke
Jim Dowd
Kate Hoey
Frank Field
Ian Gibson
George Howarth
Siobhain McDonagh
John McDonnell
Alan Milburn
Joan Ryan
Graham Stringer

Coded
Karen Buck
Jon Cruddas
Patricia Hewitt
Kelvin Hopkins
Eric Joyce
Sally Keeble
Stephen Ladyman
Ivan Lewis
Martin Linton
Shona McIsaac
Dennis MacShane
Fiona Mactaggart
David Miliband
Margaret Moran
John Reid
Tom Levitt
Paddy Tipping

Add names and references in the comments.

The Worst BBC Forecast Since Michael Fish

Spare a thought for Nick Robinson who yesterday morning confidently told us that "Gordon Brown no longer appears to be under threat. The cool political climate of the Autumn has replaced the heated frenzy of the Summer."

Gordon "has been saved for now at least not by anything he's done but by an atmosphere of weary resignation that has taken over much of his party."

This putsch is not random synchronicity, Guido has a hunch that the plan is not a mere grassroots move to push Gordon out, it is a determined effort to use backbench proxies to shame cabinet ministers into telling Gordon his time is up. Miliband can stay out of the limelight and let Progress' president, Alan Milburn, stir up the trouble.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008

Blairite Plotters Attack Brown's "One-Off Taxes and Pay-Outs" 
Giveaways Do Not Amount to a Strategy

Progress, backed by the billionaire Lord Sainsbury, is the Blairite factional organising group in the Labour Party.

This is a statement they are releasing tomorrow* signed by a dozen Blairites - Janet Anderson, Karen Buck, Patricia Hewitt, George Howarth, Eric Joyce, Sally Keeble, Stephen Ladyman, Martin Linton, Shona McIsaac, Margaret Moran, Tom Levitt, and Paddy Tipping.

LABOUR BACKBENCHERS DEMAND BOLD NEW NARRATIVE

In a joint article for Progress Magazine, 12 Labour backbench MPs, including six former ministers, urge the leadership to develop a convincing new narrative which has to be more than a series of policy initiatives in order to restore Labour's fortunes.

Writing in the Labour Conference edition of the magazine, they say that Labour has no explanation yet as to how it will steer the economy through the troubled waters ahead claiming that one-off taxes and pay-outs, no matter how justified in their own terms, do not amount to a strategy. There is a yawning chasm which the Labour party needs to fill, or the government will suffer a hammer blow.

They suggest the government needs to be better at communicating what it's going to do about the things that affect people day to day, noting that Harold Wilson's pound in your pocket and Thatcher's likening of the economy to a household budget may have been derided by the pundits but understood by the public.

The MPs label recent policies to deal with the crises of 10p tax and the housing market defensive and suggest instead Labour needs to be championing change, leading the debate about new ideas and renewing confidence in our economic competence.

They note the government's strong investment in public services, but suggest there is a malaise. They write: "We have spent money, diversified, provided choice. But Labour needs to do more to give the public a sense of ownership of public services and a say in how we design and deliver services. This does not mean, they caution a return to a top-down command economy in the public sector but instead urge the government to shift power away from centralised institutions to the individual."

The backbenchers criticise the failure to create a wholly democratic legislature as unfinished business and argue there is a lack of coherence in the devolution of powers to subsidiary tiers of government, and what should be the final settlement for Scotland. They suggest that fixed term parliaments could provide some certainty to voters and redress the balance of power between the executive and citizen.

They don't actually say "Brown must go", but you get the drift...particularly since many of the signatories are the MPs who have requested nomination papers.

*Full article in its entirety here. Guido called Progress for a copy of the statement, they said rather churlishly that they wouldn't give him a copy of the embargoed press statement. So Progress - you can stuff your embargo - this was obtained through investigative reporting comrades.

Is it a Blairite Plot?

The assistant Labour whip Siobhain McDonagh has told Sky News she believes there should be a Labour leadership election "to clear the air".

She has requested leadership nomination papers ahead of the party's conference. This has sent shock-waves down Downing Street - the spin is that this is all normal - "happens every year". Eh? When was the last time a government whip tried to get rid of the head of government? Tom Watson did it in 2006, (that is why Tories toast Watson's name).

Is it just a coincidence that her constituency website has only this one picture prominently displayed on the front page?Blair is smiling...

UPDATE : According to Guido's usually reliable Labour insider, Siobhain McDonagh wrote on the nomination papers for Gordon Brown in 2007"Gordon Brown will be a disaster" - not knowing that the papers were numbered and she could be identified.

UPDATE II : Some in the comments seem to have misunderstood the last update - she didn't vote for Gordon, she effectively spoilt her paper - and was identified as doing so.

Threat is Real

This morning Nick Robinson told listeners toToday "Gordon Brown no longer appears to be under threat. The cool political climate of the Autumn has replaced the heated frenzy of the Summer... The PM, it seems, has been saved for now at least not by anything he's done but by an atmosphere of weary resignation that has taken over much of his party."

Later this morning we learnt from Sky that some backbenchers had requested nomination papers. Clearly not everyone is resigned to going down with the Prime Mentalist...