PM told to go as minister quits.

The Blairites are making their move to oust Gordon Brown from the leadership of the Labour party and their moves are no longer hidden, nor are they employing code to send their message.

Even before the European election votes have been counted, they have resorted to all out frontal assault.

James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stand aside".

In a letter to several newspapers, the work and pensions secretary said Mr Brown's continued leadership made a Tory victory "more, not less likely". He is the third cabinet member in three days to say they are standing down.

The notion that Labour's position in the polls can be fixed by replacing Brown is simply fanciful. True, Gordon lacks a populist touch and his handling of the expenses scandal and the Gurkha situation left a lot to be desired.

But, if he steps down, it is ridiculous to imagine that the public are simply going to accept a new Labour leader without an election. And it is insanity to imagine that a Labour party which is imploding in front of our eyes is ever going to win the next election.

Hazel Blears and James Purnell are handing the Tories the next election on a silver platter.

Brown has a year before he has to go to the polls and he is hoping that in that year he can turn this around. After all, he has been right regarding the economy and Cameron has been wrong. Cameron is still the man who believes that we should do nothing and allow the recession to do it's worst. He would watch tens of thousands lose their jobs and tell us that this was the market correcting itself.

Cameron might be better than Brown at positioning himself and playing the spin game, but I would rather be led hesitantly down the right road by Brown than confidently down the wrong road by Cameron. And that is the choice that we currently face.

UPDATE:

The BBC are announcing that John Hutton is standing down "for personal reasons". This is beginning to resemble the Titanic.

UPDATE II:



At least Hutton is making clear that he still supports Brown.

Click title for full article.

Tags: Brown, Cameron, Blairites, UK politics