Brown revolt exposes power struggle within Britain's Labor Party
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, center, is fighting a fresh challenge to his leadership from within his own Labor Party, something its rivals hope to seize on. (Pool Photo By John Stillwell Via Getty Images)
By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 8, 2010
LONDON -- It took almost seven hours Wednesday for David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, to issue even lukewarm comments backing his prime minister, Gordon Brown, in the face of a party revolt. Others among Brown's top lieutenants, including the defense minister, were even less ringing when they did come to his defense.
Indeed, what has been perhaps most remarkable in the attempt to dethrone Brown as prime minister has been not the voices of his enemies but the muted backing of his friends.
So far, Brown has successfully squelched a revolt launched by two senior Labor Party lawmakers calling for a vote that could have forced him out of office just months before general elections. But the revolt exposed a behind-the-scenes Shakespearean power struggle underway within the party, one that left political watchers marveling Thursday at the weak support Brown eventually mustered among many of his top ministers.
One of the few ministers who wasted no time in backing Brown was Ed Miliband, the energy secretary and the younger brother of the foreign minister. Some read that as Ed Miliband jockeying for position within the party against his more-established brother, seeking to curry the favor of the Labor faction that remains solidly behind Brown.
A few Labor ministers backed the prime minister only after holding personal meetings with him, allowing Brown just enough support to quell the revolt -- had they bolted, Brown's government might have fallen -- but leaving him and his party deeply wounded.
The timing of Labor's problems going public could not have been worse. Brown is facing an uphill battle against a Conservative Party embodied by the fresh-faced and popular David Cameron. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Insert: Increase your odds winning on elections! Watch Rupert ..
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Murdoch's publications were generally supportive of the UK's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. At the end of the Thatcher/Major era, Murdoch switched his support to the Labour Party and the party's leader Tony Blair. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember .. who knew he was a neocon? - It ruined the rest of his life . No one in the world respects him now .. he's done, finito and finished ... he couldn't even get the job as pres of the EU.
He did it to himself .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=43848480 .. see reply for Blair 'original' neocon .. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The closeness of his relationship with Blair and their secret meetings to discuss national policies was to become a political issue in Britain. Though this has recently started to change, with The Sun publicly renouncing the ruling Labour government and seemingly lending its support to David Cameron's Conservative Party, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman said in November 2009 that Brown and Murdoch "were in regular communication" and that "there is nothing unusual in the prime minister talking to Rupert Murdoch".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Britain is also confronting a convergence of national and international crises. The war in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly unpopular here, and analysts are warning that Britain, with finances battered by the economic crisis, might have trouble managing its future debt load unless deep cuts are made soon.
But Brown's political clout to push through major policy initiatives is quickly diminishing, at least until British voters ultimately decide his fate in a ballot that must be held by early June. The turmoil has also further weakened his chances of fending off the resurgent Conservatives, shown in opinion polls to be close to ending Labor's nearly 13 years in power.
In the process, it has raised the specter that for the next several months, Brown will be a lame-duck prime minister in a nation viewed as deeply entwined with U.S. interests on the world stage.
"There was certainly some consideration by several of Brown's ministers yesterday over whether or not to back him," said Jonathan Tonge, head of the political department at University of Liverpool. "In the end, none of them wanted to wield the knife. But yes, of course, this is further damaging to Gordon Brown."
Brown himself joked Thursday about what the British press has dubbed "the snowstorm plot," in reference to the blizzards that have ground Britain to a halt this week. At the start of a meeting on British growth strategy, he made reference to the weather that shut down some roads, as well as to the failed revolt, saying, "Heart in hand, yesterday, I did not think I would be here today."
The anatomy of Wednesday's revolt was still emerging. It began when Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt, two Labor Party lawmakers and former ministers under Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, texted letters to their colleagues Wednesday morning, calling for a secret ballot on Brown's leadership. Analysts say they were calculating that David Miliband and other top ministers would seize the opportunity and abandon Brown's side.
Their calculations were apparently based on reported grumblings within Brown's inner circle. Earlier this week, British news media reported that a "key member" of Brown's cabinet was considering tendering a resignation.
Though Brown's aides in the end did back him, only a few did so in passionate terms. For instance, when David Miliband appeared before cameras Wednesday night, he merely said, "I am working closely with the prime minister on foreign-policy issues and support the reelection campaign for a Labor government that he is leading."
On Thursday morning, after senior party officials were reportedly criticizing him for his response, David Miliband spoke out more forcefully in Brown's favor and denied that any cabinet member had been involved in the move against Brown.
"We have got an election to fight; Gordon is leading us into it. We are determined to win it, under his leadership," he told Sky News.
One thing was for certain: Conservative leader Cameron waited no time in jumping on the divisions, telling the Times of London that the prime minister was in "deep trouble."
"You just have to ask yourself how much time do you think senior ministers spent yesterday thinking about the budget deficit, about the education of our children, about the war in Afghanistan and how much were they thinking about their own careers?" Cameron told the Times. "We cannot go on like this. We've got to have an election and a change of government." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/07/AR2010010703774.html?hpid=moreheadlines
SURE .. Cameron's senior ministers would not be thinking about their own careers as much as Brown's are. Would they?
Jonathan Swift said, "May you live all the days of your life!"
AI
