Is Mandelson Giving Up on Brown?

Is Mandelson Giving Up on Brown?

Iain Dale 4:05 PM

I only ask, because Mandy's famous sense of optimism and verve seem to have deserted him in recent times...

• A dismal week. “It is indeed turning into a bit of a week - it never rains but it pours, it seems.” (Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, 30 April 2009).

• Praying for New Labour. “…Peter Mandelson took a break from abolishing capitalism to address the country's top 200 mandarins at the civil service training centre in Sunningdale. Towards the end of a private session marked by jokes about Ed Balls and a prayer for the survival of New Labour, he was asked how Whitehall should prepare for the eventuality of a Conservative government. His answer was unequivocal: those present had a duty to embrace the Tories as soon as possible and make the transition a success.” (Ben Brogan, The Daily Telegraph, 30 April 2009).

• Running the next election campaign. “Oh no, I’m a bit past that. There's a younger generation who have a different take on politics and how we communicate.” (The Times, 25 April 2009).

• Political career is coming to an end. Asked about his own ambitions after the election, Mandelson said: “It depends on the result…I think time has run out for me.” (The Times, 25 April 2009).

Well you came and you gave without taking
but I sent you away, oh Mandy
well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
I need you today, oh Mandy

I'm standing on the edge of time
I Walked away when love was mine
Caught up in a world of uphill climbing
The tears are in my mind
And nothing is rhyming, oh Mandy

Well you came and you gave without taking
but I sent you away, oh Mandy
well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
And I need you today, oh Mandy

Brown "Hating Being PM"

Iain Dale 2:50 PM

The early departure of Gordon Brown from office is now openly being discussed in Labour circles. Alex Hilton of LabourHome is reporting that a stalking horse candidate plans to challenge Gordon Brown. He doesn't name the MP concerned but I believe it to be Charles Clarke, whose patience has finally snapped. However, he may not need to man the barricades.

A very reputable Labour parliamentary source claims that "Gordon is hating being Prime Minister." He certainly wouldn't be the first PM to get the job only to find out that he didn't really like it. Harold Macmillan would fall into that category.

Labour MPs are increasingly coming to believe that if the European elections are terrible, Brown may well decide he's had enough and quit while he's, er, behind. I suspect this is a case of wishful thinking on their part, but who knows?

Brown in Humiliating Expenses Climbdown

Iain Dale 2:42 PM

It has been a week of humiliation for Gordon Brown. First the President of Pakistan refuse to see him. Then the Polish prime Minister told him his economic policy was rubbish. Then he was defeated in the House of Commons over the Gurkhas. And now today, the government has been forced into a climbdown on MPs expenses. Tory MPs have just been paged to say that there won't be any votes on expenses because the Government has accepted Sir George Young's amendment which seeks to refer everything to the Committee on Standards in Public Life. This was seen by the whips as the least worst option as they had advised the Prime Minister than any vote would be lost. At least there won't be any TV pictures of a government defeat.

Needless to say, Harriet Harman and Chris Bryant have been left on their own on the government front bench. No other Cabinet Minister can bring themselves to appear and defend the indefensible.

The stench of decay grows stronger by the day.

UPDATE: Liam Byrne has just appeared on the News Channel claiming that the climbdown is a tremendous endorsement of Gordon Brown's position. Unbelieveable.

On Second Thoughts...

Iain Dale 2:29 PM

I was watching Sky's coverage of the end to the British military presence in Iraq this morning. Whatever one's views of the conflict, it was an historic moment.

Then I thought, "Remind me, what is the Commons debating today? And whose idea was it to have a vote on expenses today? And didn't Number 10 know that today was the day of British troops withdrawal when they decided that MPs should spend the whole day talking about expenses?"

Makes you proud to be British.