Pressure on Brown as rebellion rears its head
Friday, 1 May 2009 6:10 PM
By politics.co.uk staff
The first stirrings of renewed dissent among Labour's old guard made themselves heard today, with Gordon Brown facing public criticism from two former home secretaries.
Charles Clarke said the last two weeks - which have seen the McBride emails, Brown's expenses scheme and the Ghurkha ruling - made him "ashamed to be a Labour MP".
While David Blunkett warned Labour it needed to avoid "civil war", but still pointed out it had no "social policy".
The full story on Charles Clarke's comments
The full story on David Blunkett's comments
The outspoken comments from old Blairite wings of the party, follow strong evidence of increased disquiet on the Labour benches.
The first sign came in the willingness of Labour backbenchers to vote against the government on the Liberal Democrat motion on Ghurkhas' right to come to the UK. Equally damaging was the decision by many more Labour MPs to simply abstain from the vote.
Now media reports are citing various anonymous Cabinet ministers as deeply troubled by the current leadership.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson called the last seven days "the worst week of Gordon Brown's beleaguered premiership".
He added: "At a time when strong leadership is needed to guide the country through difficult times, Gordon Brown has lost all credibility."
Analysts are expecting a summer of discontent in the Labour party, with some predicting disastrous local and European election results sealing Mr Brown's fate.
Serious about politics?
Dedicate one year of your life to getting to the heart of current issues in global politics. Our courses allow you to specialise in development and policy-making, international relations, and political journalism and communications.
Newsletter sign up