Last week was probably one of the worst for the Labour Party since it swept into power in 1997.
Still reeling from the widespread revelations that his own special advisor had been planning to smear leading members of the Conservative Party and their families, the Prime Minister was hit for six by a number of political defeats and personal criticisms.
First of all, he was embarrassed when, during a joint press conference, the Prime Minister of Poland chastised the UK Government for not controlling its debt and for its ineffective supervision of the banking sector. This followed an earlier criticism, this time from President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.
The South American leader said, during a visit by Gordon Brown last month, that his country was doing better than most because it had reduced its levels of debt during the boom years.
On arriving home, things did not get any better.
Having refused to back down over the highly emotive issue of settlement rights for those Gurkhas who had served this country brilliantly during the last fifty years, the Government was surprisingly defeated when MPs, including over twenty rebel Labour members, voted by 267 to 246 in favour of an opposition motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence in the UK.
The Prime Minister was then forced to abandon his reforms of MPs' expenses only five days after proposing, via YouTube, a controversial flat rate allowance for attending parliament to replace the current second home allowance.
Worst of all for the Labour Party, there were increasing signs of a growing civil war over its future direction.
Calls by Harriet Harman for colleagues to work together fell on deaf years as former home secretaries, in the form of David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, hit out, the former about a "void" within the heart of the Government and the latter stating he was "ashamed" of his own party.
Then at the end of the week, rumours began to circulate about a possible coup after the expected European election disaster, with some Labour MPs even talking openly about possible defection to the Liberal Democrats.
This disintegration of a government is a tragedy for this country as it is going through the worse recession for sixty years. We have a Prime Minister who is increasingly isolated from the real problems facing this nation and also seems out of touch with the concerns of his own supporters.
Given this, there is, in my opinion, only one honourable thing left for Gordon Brown to do and that is to call a general election immediately.
With unemployment rising inexorably towards three million, company insolvencies increasing and tens of thousands losing their homes, this country cannot afford to have a weak and indecisive leader of a tarnished government at this time of national crisis.
Whilst some in the Labour Party are arguing that all that is needed is a change at the top, I do not believe that this country would tolerate having another Prime Minister who had merely been picked by a political party rather than been tested through the ballot box.
Of course, if the voters believe that Gordon Brown’s management of the economy is sound, then he has nothing to fear and will be swept back into office on a wave of public support for his economic policies.
However, if he has lost the backing of the people of this country, as well as that of his own party, then the time has come for a new Government that can begin to change the UK’s fortunes for the better.
Either way is better than the current paralysis that is killing this country’s economy.
Still reeling from the widespread revelations that his own special advisor had been planning to smear leading members of the Conservative Party and their families, the Prime Minister was hit for six by a number of political defeats and personal criticisms.
First of all, he was embarrassed when, during a joint press conference, the Prime Minister of Poland chastised the UK Government for not controlling its debt and for its ineffective supervision of the banking sector. This followed an earlier criticism, this time from President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.
The South American leader said, during a visit by Gordon Brown last month, that his country was doing better than most because it had reduced its levels of debt during the boom years.
On arriving home, things did not get any better.
Having refused to back down over the highly emotive issue of settlement rights for those Gurkhas who had served this country brilliantly during the last fifty years, the Government was surprisingly defeated when MPs, including over twenty rebel Labour members, voted by 267 to 246 in favour of an opposition motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence in the UK.
The Prime Minister was then forced to abandon his reforms of MPs' expenses only five days after proposing, via YouTube, a controversial flat rate allowance for attending parliament to replace the current second home allowance.
Worst of all for the Labour Party, there were increasing signs of a growing civil war over its future direction.
Calls by Harriet Harman for colleagues to work together fell on deaf years as former home secretaries, in the form of David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, hit out, the former about a "void" within the heart of the Government and the latter stating he was "ashamed" of his own party.
Then at the end of the week, rumours began to circulate about a possible coup after the expected European election disaster, with some Labour MPs even talking openly about possible defection to the Liberal Democrats.
This disintegration of a government is a tragedy for this country as it is going through the worse recession for sixty years. We have a Prime Minister who is increasingly isolated from the real problems facing this nation and also seems out of touch with the concerns of his own supporters.
Given this, there is, in my opinion, only one honourable thing left for Gordon Brown to do and that is to call a general election immediately.
With unemployment rising inexorably towards three million, company insolvencies increasing and tens of thousands losing their homes, this country cannot afford to have a weak and indecisive leader of a tarnished government at this time of national crisis.
Whilst some in the Labour Party are arguing that all that is needed is a change at the top, I do not believe that this country would tolerate having another Prime Minister who had merely been picked by a political party rather than been tested through the ballot box.
Of course, if the voters believe that Gordon Brown’s management of the economy is sound, then he has nothing to fear and will be swept back into office on a wave of public support for his economic policies.
However, if he has lost the backing of the people of this country, as well as that of his own party, then the time has come for a new Government that can begin to change the UK’s fortunes for the better.
Either way is better than the current paralysis that is killing this country’s economy.
Comments
What's it like being so radical DJE?
What's it like to carry the burden of being at the vanguard of your party's radical thought?
No wonder you didn't get elected!
The biggest criticisms of Brown have actually come from within his own party over the last few days.
Maybe the Labour team should stick to trying to write a worthwhile post on their pisspoor Anirin Bevan site.
It's clear that you have failed to realise that I don't write these articles for the benefit of a small group of political anoraks as it doesn't really matter what you and the rest of the Cardiff Bay bubble think.
However, it does matter what the 127,000 readers in North Wales who read this article last Monday think.
Do you think this number would be slightly higher than the average weekly website readership of all the Welsh Labour blogs combined?
Do you think this number would be slightly higher than the average weekly website readership of all the Welsh Labour blogs combined?"
I wouldnt argue with anon trolls Dylan, it is bad for your health.
I thought the article was good knock about political copy, but are you really suggesting that your article was read by every single reader of the daily post?