Latest news breaking today of a secret ballot called by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt urging MP's to vote for confidence in Gordon Brown's leadership in the proposed elections this May.
Ah yes, the Labour contingent within the House of Commons have a sneaking suspicion that Gordon doesn't quite have the charisma to persuade the voting public of his credibility. In the media age, policies appear secondary to personality and image. In that respect, Gordon just doesn't quite cut the mustard. You can just imagine the scurrilous MP's whispering 'Loser' in hushed tones in the corridors of the Houses of Parliament.
Gordon Brown's tenure so far has not been without its problems. He 'inherited' the position of PM without an election and with speculation that this was decided in a pact with Tony Blair in a restaurant some years before. Despite making the NHS a priority and indeed ploughing many millions into providing new services and hospitals (as a nurse, I salute the Labour government for the vast improvements in my local area), Mr. Brown has had a somewhat rocky period in charge...
The UK's participation in the Iraq War and Afghanistan still continues to divide opinion and it's always hard to justify the almost daily stream of young service personnel arriving back to their loved ones in coffins.
We continue to see the effects of a worldwide recession with people losing their homes, their jobs and their savings. Gordon Brown was not individually responsible for this but is surely culpable in some part for the banking collapse and subsequent financial bail-out using taxpayers money. This continued to be a bitter pill to swallow when Sir Fred Goodwin of the RBS walked away with a financial package of our money which seemed to have little justification in the economic climate at that time.
As an ex-Chancellor and a man who appeared to have a good take on keeping a prudent eye on finances, it seems incongruous that the abuse of MP's expenses was so wide-ranging and happened in his own backyard so to speak. The system was there to be abused and boy, was it abused? There's speculation of fraudulent mortgage applications and tax evasion, but forgive me if I'm wrong here, but I don't remember Mr Brown calling for an enquiry? Again, MP's are forever tarnished with the label of money-grasping greedy gits who can't be trusted. The buck stops with the head honcho I'm afraid. Step forward Gordon and sort it out.
And finally, Mr. Brown has had so much opportunity to give that Eton-educated, Tory boy, David 'Hey, I care' Cameron a kick up the arse but has failed to take it and has instead allowed his foppish star rise in the ascendancy. The Tories appear to have little to offer other than to fall back on the old favourites such as immigration, people abusing the benefit system, inheritance tax etc etc. That should keep the Cheshire-set blue-rinse brigade happy.
The question in most people's thoughts though... who will take over from Gordie?My money's on ex-Man City manager Mark Hughes as he's out of work at the moment. Failing that, a nice charismatic, image conscious, easy to manipulate rising star of the Labour Party - has to be Ed Balls doesn't it? Privately educated, attended Oxford where he became member of the conservative association. Ring any bells?
