Blunkett warns of civil war
Friday, 1 May 2009 10:33 AM
By Ian Dunt
Former home secretary David Blunkett has warned Labour not to slip into civil war after a month of devastating blunders.
Rebellion against Gordon Brown's leadership has again reared its head after April saw mistake after mistake made by the Labour leadership.
Mr Brown lost any chance of a poll bounce from the G20 summit with the emergence of the Damian McBride emails, followed by an ill-thought through intervention on MPs' expenses and a lost vote on Gurkha settlement.
In a speech to party activists this evening Mr Blunkett will repeat warnings he made to the Independent newspaper this morning.
"We cannot afford civil war," he told the newspaper.
"Both those on the old Left and some of my old colleagues who are described as Blairites, must not look backwards. Those are in the past and we must make our own way.
"After the last couple of weeks, we need to regroup and have a vision. We cannot afford to wait until after the summer elections. The public are still not convinced by the Tories.
"The Damian McBride emails, the public horror at some of the exposure of MPs' expenses claims and an erosion of confidence in politics generally, requires a line to be drawn and the restoration of the antennae," he continued.
"The old battles are over and the need for visionary action is self-evident. So talk of going back to the past is dangerous."
The mood among backbenchers is said to be highly treasonous at the moment, due primarily to the fact that most of Labour's troubles are entirely self-inflicted.
The Telegraph is quoting two unnamed Cabinet sources as saying the prime minister has now lost control of his MPs.
But plotters, who have been quiet since last year's Labour conference, are unlikely to make any moves before the June local and European elections, which are expected to see the party perform terribly.
The most popular man to step in for Mr Brown is health secretary Alan Johnson, although he is understood to have little interest in the top job.
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