03 June 2009

Left rallying against Gordon Brown's leadership

The Guardian is the serious paper of the left in the UK. It almost religiously supports voting Labour each election. For the Guardian to publish as editorial as it did today, on Gordon Brown, indicates the time for change has not just come from the broad centre of the population, but from supporters of the Labour Party.

On the upcoming EU and local elections: Labour faces its worst defeat in its history on Thursday, but the prime minister does not recognise his direct responsibility for the mayhem.

The verdict is damning: The truth is that there is no vision from him, no plan, no argument for the future and no support. The public see it. His party sees it. The cabinet must see it too, although they are not yet bold enough to say so. The prime minister demands loyalty, but that has become too much to ask of a party, and a country, that has was never given the chance to vote for him.

The Guardian appears to support major electoral reform, but sees Brown as unable to progress it: Labour needs to enter the next election having reformed parliament. But Mr Brown will never do it. The prime minister was absent from the start of the debate and cautious now he has joined it. His instinct is usually to hesitate, and to establish reviews and commissions. Meanwhile, the chance of a generation is being missed.


Of course, it also notes that those of us who don't ever want Labour to regain power are thrilled Brown clings on:

This paper believes Britain has often been at its best when Labour has been at its strongest. People who disagree with that will welcome its implosion, knowing that it will make a Conservative landslide inevitable. That is why they are not clamouring for Mr Brown to go.

Quite, notable also that Guardian columnists the socialist Polly Toynbee calls for voting Liberal Democrat, and Jonathan Freedland promoting the Greens.

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