Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown MP (born 20 February 1951) is a British Labour politician and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Brown assumed office in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming leader of the governing Labour Party. Before this, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour government from 1997 to 2007 under Blair.
Brown has a PhD in history from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a TV journalist.[2][3] He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983; firstly for Dunfermline East and since 2005 for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.[4][5] As Prime Minister, he also holds the positions of First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service.
Brown's time as Chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain's
monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate
setting powers to the Bank of England, by a wide extension of the powers of the Treasury
to cover much domestic policy, and by largely benign economic
conditions. His most controversial moves were the abolition of Advanced
Corporation Tax (ACT) relief in his first budget - a move that received
criticism for the effect it had on pension funds [6] - and removal of the 10p tax rate in his final 2007 budget.[7]
His time as PM has been of mixed fortune, facing repercussions of the credit crunch and the associated nationalisation of Northern Rock,
the 10p tax rate row, rising oil and petrol prices, and increased
inflation. Brown has also suffered as a result of investigations into
improper party donation accusations, a costly political battle over 42 day detention and heavy by-election defeats, notably Glasgow East.
Despite an initial increase in personal and Labour popularity following
his appointment as Leader and PM, Brown has presided over a dramatic
decline in poll approval ratings personally and for the party.[8] During the summer of 2008 speculation arose of a potential challenge to Brown's leadership,[9] but the threat of a contest receded during October following the Labour Party Conference, the emergence of the financial crisis [10] and Labour's win in Glenrothes after a string of by-election loses.
Early life and career before parliament
Gordon Brown was born in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland.[11] His father was John Ebenezer Brown (1914–1998), a minister of the Church of Scotland and a strong influence on Gordon.[12] His mother Jessie Elizabeth Souter, known as Bunty, died in 2004 aged 86.[13] She was the daughter of John Souter, a timber merchant.[14] Gordon was brought up with his brothers John and Andrew Brown in a manse in Kirkcaldy — the largest town in Fife, Scotland across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh.[15] In common with many other notable Scots,
he is therefore often referred to as a "son of the manse". Brown was
educated first at Kirkcaldy West Primary School where he was selected
for an experimental fast stream education programme, which took him two years early to Kirkcaldy High School for an academic hothouse education taught in separate classes.[16] At age 16 he wrote that he loathed and resented this "ludicrous" experiment on young lives.[17]
He was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study history at the age of only 16. He suffered a retinal detachment after being kicked in the head during an end-of-term rugby unionblind
in his left eye, despite treatment including several operations and
lying in a darkened room for weeks at a time. Later at Edinburgh, while
playing tennis, he noticed the same symptoms in his right eye. Brown underwent experimental surgery at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and his eye was saved.[18] Brown graduated from Edinburgh with First Class Honours MA in 1972, and stayed on to complete his PhD (which he gained in 1982), titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918-29.[19] match at his old school. He was left
In 1972, while still a student and with strong connections with the previous Dean of Admissions, Brown was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh, the convener of the University Court.[20] Brown served as Rector until 1975, and he also edited The Red Paper on Scotland.[21]Politics at Glasgow College of Technology - in the 1979 general election, Brown stood for the Edinburgh South constituency and lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Ancram.[19] From 1980 he worked as a journalist at Scottish Television, later serving as current affairs editor until his election to parliament in 1983.[22] From 1976 to 1980 he was employed as a lecturer in
Election to parliament and opposition
Gordon Brown was elected to Parliament on his second attempt as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East in 1983 general election and became opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry in 1985. In 1986, he published a biography of the Independent Labour Party politician James Maxton, the subject of his PhD thesis. Brown was Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1987 to 1989 and then Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, before becoming Shadow Chancellor in 1992.[19][23]
Having led the Labour Movement Yes campaign, refusing to join the cross-party Yes for Scotland1979 Scottish devolution referendum, while other senior Labour politicians - including Robin Cook, Tam Dalyell and Brian Wilson - campaigned for a No vote, Brown was subsequently a key participant in the Scottish Constitutional Convention, signing the Claim of Right for Scotland in 1989.[24] campaign, during the
After the sudden death of Labour leader John Smith in May 1994, Brown was tipped as a potential party leader,[25] but did not contest the leadership after Tony Blair became favourite. It has long been rumoured a deal was struck between Blair and Brown at the former Granita restaurant in Islington, in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election.[26] Whether this is true or not, the relationship between Blair and Brown has been central to the fortunes of "New Labour", and they have mostly remained united in public, despite reported serious private rifts.[27]
As Shadow Chancellor, Brown worked to present himself as a fiscally
competent Chancellor-in-waiting, to reassure business and the middle
class that Labour could be trusted to run the economy without fuelling inflation,
increasing unemployment, or overspending — legacies of the 1970s. He
publicly committed Labour to following the Conservatives' spending
plans for the first two years after taking power.[28][29]
Following a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland, Brown became MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2005 election.[30]
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Brown's ten years and two months as Chancellor of the Exchequer made him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.[18]
The Prime Minister's website singles out three achievements in
particular from Brown's decade as Chancellor: presiding over "the
longest ever period of growth", making the Bank of England independent
and delivering an agreement on poverty and climate change at the G8 summit in 2005.[19]
However, critics of Brown's record as Chancellor point out that he was
fortunate to inherit a strong economy from the Conservatives.[31]
Acts as chancellor
- Gold sales: Between 1999 and 2002 Brown sold 60% of the UK's gold reserves at $275 an ounce.[39] It was later attacked as a "disastrous foray into international asset management"[40] as he had sold at close to a 20-year low. He pressured the IMF to do the same,[41] but it resisted. The gold sales have earned him the pejorative nicknameGolden Brown', after the song by The Stranglers.[42] '
- Spectrum auctions: Under Brown, telecom radio frequency auctions
gathered £22.5 billion for the government. By using a system of sealed
bids and only selling a restricted number of licences, they extracted
high prices from the telecom operators.[43] Germanyrecession in the European telecoms development industry (2001 Telecoms crash) with the loss of 100,000 jobs across Europe, 30,000 of those in the UK.[44] But, as Paul Klemperer,
one of the designers of the auctions, points out, "[t]he United States
held no 3G auctions, yet telecoms companies lost just as much: in fact,
they lost more."[45] at this time applied a similar auction; some allege that these together caused a severe
- Debt relief and development: Brown believes it is appropriate to remove much of the unpayable Third World debt but does not think all debt should be wiped out.[46] On 20 April 2006, in a speech to the United Nations Ambassadors, Brown outlined a "Green" view of global development.
Tax
In the 1997 election and subsequently, Brown pledged to not increase the basic or higher rates of income tax.
Over his Chancellorship, he reduced the basic rate from 23% to 20%.
However, in all but his final budget, Brown increased the tax
thresholds in line with inflation, rather than earnings, resulting in fiscal drag. Corporation tax fell under Brown, from a main rate of 33% to 28%, and from 24% to 19% for small businesses.[47]
In 1999, Brown introduced a lower tax band of 10%. He abolished this in his last budget in 2007 to reduce the basic rate from 22% to 20%, increasing tax for 5 million people,[48] and, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies leaving those earning between under £18,000 as the biggest losers.[49]
Analysis of policies as chancellor
- Growth: Brown states that his chancellorship had seen the longest period of sustained economic growth in the history of the United Kingdom.[50][51] The details in Brown's growth figures have been challenged.[52][53]
- Anti-poverty: The Centre for Policy Studies
found that the poorest fifth of households, which accounted for 6.8% of
all taxes in 1996–7, accounted for 6.9% of all taxes paid in 2004-5.
Meanwhile, their share of state benefit payouts dropped from 28.1% to
27.1% over the same period.[54]
- Tax: According to the OECD UK taxation has increased from a 39.3% share of gross domestic product in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, going to a higher level than Germany.[55] This increase has mainly been attributed to active government policy, and not simply to the growing economy.
- Pensions: Conservatives have accused Brown of imposing "stealth taxes". A commonly reported example resulted in 1997 from a technical change in the way corporation tax is collected, the indirect effect of which was for the dividends on stock investments held within pensions to be taxed, thus lowering pension returns and contributing to the demise of some pension funds.[56] The Treasury contend that this tax change was crucial to long-term economic growth.
Other policy stances as chancellor
- Higher education: In 2000, Brown started a political row about higher educationLaura Spence Affair) when he accused the University of Oxford of elitism in its admissions procedures, describing its decision not to offer a place to state school pupil Laura Spence as "absolutely outrageous".[57] Lord Jenkins, then Oxford Chancellor and himself a former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, said "nearly every fact he used was false."[58] (referred to as the
- Anti-racism and popular culture: During a diplomatic visit to India in January 2007, Brown responded to questions concerning perceived racism and bullying against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the British reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother
saying, "There is a lot of support for Shilpa. It is pretty clear we
are getting the message across. Britain is a nation of tolerance and
fairness."[59] He later said the debate showed Britain wanted to be "defined by being a tolerant, fair and decent country."[60]
Links with nuclear power industry
A link was reported between Brown's brother Andrew and one of the main nuclear lobbyists, EDF Energy,[61] given the finding that the government did not carry a proper public consultation on the use of nuclear power in its 2006 Energy Review.[62] Attention has also been drawn to the fact[63] that the father-in-law of Brown's closest adviser Ed Balls, Tony Cooper (father of the Labour minister Yvette Cooper) has close links with the nuclear industry. Cooper was described as an "articulate, persuasive and well-informed advocate of nuclear power over the last ten years"
by the Nuclear Industry Association on his appointment as Chairman of
the British Nuclear Industry Forum in June 2002. He is also a member of
the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and was appointed to the Energy Advisory Panel by the previous Conservative administration.[64]
Run up to succeeding Blair
- Main articles Labour Party leadership election, 2007 and Timeline for the Labour Party leadership elections, 2007
In October 2004 Tony Blair announced he would not lead the party into a fourth general election, but would serve a full third term.[65] Political controversy over the relationship between Brown and Blair continued up to and beyond the 2005 election,
which Labour won with a reduced parliamentary majority and reduced vote
share. The two campaigned together but the British media remained — and
remains — full of reports on their mutual acrimony.
Blair, under pressure from within his own party, announced on 7 September 2006 that he would step down within a year.[66] Brown was the clear favourite to succeed Blair for several years with experts and the bookmakers; he was the only candidate
spoken of seriously in Westminster. Appearances and news coverage
leading up to the handover were interpreted as preparing the ground for
Brown to become Prime Minister, in part by creating the impression of a statesman with a vision for leadership and global change.
Blair famously described Brown as the "great clunking fist", supposedly
as a warning to his political opponents. Sceptics have said Blair's
description was a deliberate attempt to label Brown as an unsubtle and
one-dimensional policial operator.
Brown is the first prime minister from a Scottish constituency since the Conservative/SUP Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1964. He is also one of only five prime ministers who attended a university other than Oxford or Cambridge, along with the Earl of Bute (Leiden), Lord John RussellEdinburgh), Andrew Bonar Law (University of Glasgow), and Neville Chamberlain (Mason Science College, later Birmingham).[67] (
On 9 September 2006 Charles Clarke said in an interview that the Chancellor had "psychological" issues he must confront and accused him of being a "control freak"
and "totally uncollegiate". Brown was also "deluded", Clarke said, to
think Blair can and should anoint him as his successor now.[68] Environment Secretary David Miliband stressed his support for Brown.[69]
From January 2007 the media reported Brown had now "dropped any
pretence of not wanting, or expecting, to move into Number 10 in the
next few months" — although he and his family use the more spacious 11 Downing Street.[70] This enabled Brown to signal the most significant priorities for his agenda as Prime Minister; speaking at a Fabian Society
conference on 'The Next Decade' in January 2007, he stressed education,
international development, narrowing inequalities (to pursue 'equality
of opportunity and fairness of outcome'), renewing Britishness,
restoring trust in politics, and winning hearts and minds in the war on
terror as key priorities.[71]
In March 2007 Brown's character was attacked by Lord Turnbull who worked for Brown as Permanent Secretary
at the Treasury from 1998 to 2002. Turnbull accused Brown of running
the Treasury with "Stalinist ruthlessness" and treating Cabinet
colleagues with "more or less complete contempt".[72] This was especially picked-up on by the British media as the comments were made on the eve of Brown's budget report.
Prime Minister
-
Brown ceased to be Chancellor and, upon the approval of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 27 June 2007.[4] Like all modern Prime Ministers, Brown concurrently serves as the First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service, and is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and, hence, also a Privy Counsellor. He is also Leader of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He is the sixth post-war prime minister, of a total of 12, to assume the role without having won a general election.[73]
Policies
Brown has proposed moving some traditional prime ministerial powers conferred by royal prerogative
to the realm of Parliament, such as the power to declare war and
approve appointments to senior positions. Brown wants Parliament to
gain the right to ratify treaties and have more oversight into the
intelligence services. He has also proposed moving some powers from
Parliament to citizens, including the right to form "citizens' juries",
easily petition Parliament for new laws, and rally outside Westminster.
He has asserted that the attorney general should not have the right to
decide whether to prosecute in individual cases, such as in the loans for peerages scandal.[74]
During his Labour leadership campaign, Brown proposed some policy
initiatives, suggesting that a Brown-led government would introduce the
following:[75][76]
- End to corruption: Following the cash for honours
scandal, Brown emphasised cracking down on corruption. Brown has
announced a new ministerial code which sets out clear standards of
behaviour for ministers.[77]
- Constitutional reform: Brown has not stated whether he proposes a U.S.-style written constitution
— something the UK has never had — or a looser bill of rights. He said
in a speech when announcing his bid that he wants a “better
constitution” that is “clear about the rights and responsibilities of
being a citizen in Britain today”. He plans to set up an all-party
convention to look at new powers for Parliament. This convention may
also look at rebalancing powers between Whitehall
and local government. Brown has said he will give Parliament the final
say on whether British troops are sent into action in future.
- Housing: House planning restrictions are likely to be
relaxed. Brown said he wants to release more land and ease access to
ownership with shared equity schemes. He backed a proposal to build new
eco-towns, each housing between 10,000 and 20,000 homeowners — up to 100,000 new homes in total.
- Health: Brown intends to have doctors' surgeries open at the
weekends, and GPs on call in the evenings. Doctors were given the right
of opting out of out-of-hours care two years ago, under a controversial
pay deal, signed by then-Health Secretary John Reid,
which awarded them a 22% pay rise in 2006. Brown stated that the NHS
was his "top priority", yet he had just cut the capital budget of the
English NHS from £6.2bn to £4.2bn.[78]
The Brown government was involved in controversy in April 2008 over
the decision to scrap the 10p Income Tax Band and he was forced into
making concessions. In the local elections on 1 May 2008, Labour
suffered their worst results in 40 years finishing in third place with
a projected 24% share of the national vote.[79]
Subsequently the party has seen the loss of by-elections in Nantwich
and Crewe and Henley as well as slumps in the polls. A by election in
Glasgow East triggered by the resignation of David Marshall saw the
Labour party struggle to appoint a candidate, eventually settling for a
5th choice, a sitting MSP in the Scottish Parliament Margaret Curran.
The SNP, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have all derided the party
for their disorganised nature with Alex Salmond commenting "This is
their 'lost weekend' - they don't have a leader in Scotland, they don't
have a candidate in Glasgow East, and they have a prime minister who
refuses to come to the constituency".[80]
A former Labour spin doctor has commented that the loss of a safe seat
in Glasgow (one of the safest Labour seats in the country) would
indicate to Gordon Brown that any MP with a majority of less than
13,500 would be unsafe and his position as Prime Minister would be
untenable.[81]
The unthinkable result became a reality when the seat experienced a
massive swing of 22.54% in one of Labours safest heartland areas, and
the constituency was lost to the Scottish National Party's John Mason
who took 11,277 votes with Labour just 365 behind.
Foreign policy
Brown remains committed to the Iraq War, but said in a speech in June 2007 that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq.[82]
Brown made his first overseas trip as Prime Minister to Berlin, where he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In a speech given to the Labour Friends of Israel in April 2007, Brown stated:
Many of you know my interest in Israel and in the Jewish community has been long-standing…My father was the chairman of the Church of Scotland's
Israel Committee. Not only as I've described to some of you before did
he make visits on almost two occasions a year for 20 years to Israel —
but because of that, although Fife,
where I grew up, was a long way from Israel with no TV pictures to link
us together — I had a very clear view from household slides and
projectors about the history of Israel, about the trials and
tribulations of the Jewish people, about the enormous suffering and
loss during the Holocaust, as well as the extraordinary struggle that he described to me of people to create this magnificent homeland.[83]
Brown said in a letter published 17 March 2008 that the United Kingdom will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war -- but not soon.[84]British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will skip the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, on 8 August 2008 in Beijing,
it was reported on 9 April 2008. But, he will not be boycotting the
Olympics and will attend the closing ceremony, on 24 August 2008. Brown
has been under intense pressure from human rights campaigners to send a
message to China, concerning the 2008 Tibetan unrest.
But his decision not to attend the opening ceremony is not an act of
protest, the decision was made weeks ago and was not a stand on
principle.[85]
Diplomatic relationship with the U.S.
There has been widespread speculation on the nature of the UK's relationship with the United States under Brown's government. A Washington, D.C. speech by Brown's close aide Douglas Alexander was widely reported as both a policy shift and a message to the U.S:[86]
"In the 21st century, strength should be measured on what we can build
together…we need to demonstrate by our deeds, words and our actions
that we are internationalist, not isolationist, multilateralist, not unilateralist, active and not passive, and driven by core values, consistently applied, not special interests."
However Downing Street's spokesman strongly denied the suggestion that Alexander was trying to distance Britain from U.S. foreign policy and show that Britain would not necessarily, in Tony Blair's words, stand "shoulder to shoulder" with George W. Bush over future military interventions:[87]
"I thought the interpretation that was put on Douglas Alexander's words
was quite extraordinary. To interpret this as saying anything at all
about our relationship with the U.S. is nonsense."
Brown personally clarified his position;[88]"We
will not allow people to separate us from the United States of America
in dealing with the common challenges that we face around the world. I
think people have got to remember that the relationship between Britain and America and between a British prime minister and an American president is built on the things that we share, the same enduring values about the importance of liberty, opportunity, the dignity of the individual. I will continue to work, as Tony Blair did, very closely with the American administration."
The "non-election"
Gordon Brown caused controversy during September and early October
2007 by letting speculation continue on whether he would call a snap general election.
Following the negative reaction to his visit to British troops in Iraq
during the Conservative Conference, David Cameron's 'off the cuff'
speech and an opinion poll showing Labour 6% behind the Conservative
Party in key marginal seats, he finally announced that there would be
no election
in the near future and seemed to rule out an election in 2008. He was
subsequently accused by his political opponents as being a ditherer and
indecisive. Cameron accused Brown of "bottling" the election because of
opinion polls, which Brown denied.[89]
Military covenant
November 2007 saw Brown face intense criticism of not adhering to the 'military covenant',
a convention within British politics stating that in exchange for them
putting their lives at risk for the sake of national security, the
armed forces should in turn be suitably looked after by the government.[90] Criticism has come from several former Chiefs of Defence, including GeneralLord Guthrie, Admiral Lord Boyce, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Craig, Field Marshal Lord Bramall and Field Marshal Lord Inge.[91][92]
Poor housing, lack of equipment and adequate healthcare provisions are
some of the major issues Brown has been accused of neglecting.
European Union
Brown has continued to be dogged by controversy about not holding a referendum on the EU Treaty of Lisbon. On the morning of 13 December 2007, Foreign Secretary David Miliband
had to stand in for the Prime Minister at the official signing ceremony
in Lisbon of the EU Reform Treaty, which was attended by all other
European heads of government. Brown was otherwise engaged at the House
of Commons, appearing before the Liaison Committee,
and travelled to Portugal to sign the treaty in the afternoon which the
EU leaders had signed in the morning. Brown come under heavy fire from
opponents on both sides of the House and in the press, who suggested
that neither Brown nor Labour had a mandate to ratify the treaty
without public assent. Conservative leader David Cameron pointed to Labour's 2005 manifesto, which had pledged to give British public a referendum on the original EU Constitution.[93][94]
Brown argued that the Treaty significantly differed from the
Constitution, and as such did not require a referendum. He also
responded with plans for a lengthy debate on the topic, and stated that
he believed the document to be too complex to be decided by referendum.[95]
42-Day Detention
Following the rejection of a previous bill under Tony Blair's
government to allow for terror suspects to be detained for up to 90
days without charge,[96] Brown championed a new bill extending this pre-charge detention period to 42 days. The bill was met with hostility on both sides of the House and, facing a growing backbench rebellion, it is alleged[97]
that a number of deals were done behind the scenes to ensure a victory
for Brown in the vote on this issue. In the end, the bill passed with
just 9 votes. Many commentators view this as a pyrrhic victory as Brown
had to rely upon the support of a renegade Conservative MP, Ann Widdecombe, and the votes of a handful of Democratic Unionist MPs. In a session of Prime Ministers' Questions some weeks later, David Cameron
challenged Brown to concede on record that "no deals were done" in
ensuring the bill was passed. Brown stood up before the House and gave
a one-word response of "Yes". To uproar, Cameron proceeded to quote
from a letter written by Geoff Hoon, Labour's Chief Whip, to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, Keith Vaz,
in which Hoon expressed deep thanks for Vaz's support and in addition
signed off the letter with the line "I trust that you will be
appropriately rewarded."[98]
Hoon has claimed that this was just a joke between friends but others
have viewed this letter as proof that deals were indeed done behind the
scenes and that Brown was lying when he went on record as stating that
no such deals were done.[99]
The House of Lords crushingly defeated the law, with Lords
characterising it as "fatally flawed, ill thought through and
unnecessary", stating that "it seeks to further erode [...] fundamental
legal and civil rights".[100]
Plots against leadership
The first signs of internal disquiet towards Brown's policies surfaced as early as May 2008. Brown, in his 2007 budget,
his last as Chancellor, abolished the 10% income tax rate for the
lowest earners (5.1 million people), increasing their rate to the next
highest, 20%. Earners who fell within the 22% tax rate band had their
rate reduced to 20%, and tax allowances were also made for over-65s.[7] These measures came into effect in April 2008. The "10p tax rate cut" as it was commonly referred to, was sharply criticized by Frank Field
and several other backbenchers. Field also made comments saying that
Brown did not seem to be enjoying his job. Health Secretary Alan Johnson believed that Field was motivated primarily by a personal dislike of Brown,[101] and Field later apologized, saying that he had regretted allowing his campaign to "become personal".[102] In the face of protests such as this though, Chancellor Alistair Darling
cut the tax rate for 22 million people, and borrowed around £2.7 bn to
reimburse those on lower and middle incomes who had suffered.[103]
In the summer of 2008, Brown's leadership was presented with a fresh
challenge as a large number of senior MPs openly called for him to
resign. This event was dubbed the 'Lancashire Plot', as two
backbenchers from North West England urged him to step down and a third questioned his chances of holding on to the Labour Party
leadership. Several MPs argued that if Brown did not recover in the
polls by early 2009, he should call for a leadership contest. However,
certain prominent MPs, such as Jacqui Smith and Bill Rammell, suggested that Brown was the right person to lead Britain through its economic crisis.[104]
A second assault upon Brown's premiership was launched in the autumn of that year, when Siobhain McDonagh, a MP who during her time in office had never voted against the government,[105]
spoke of the need for discussion over Brown's position. McDonagh, a
junior government whip, was sacked from her role shortly afterwards, on
September 12. Whilst McDonagh did not state that she wanted Brown
deposed, she implored the Labour party to hold a leadership election.[106]
McDonagh spoke of a "huge number" of Labour MPs who wanted a leadership
election; her views were somewhat substantiated in the following days
when several Labour MPs, including Field, Joan Ryan (who applied, as McDonagh had, for leadership nomination papers, and became the second rebel to be fired from her job), Jim Dowd, Greg Pope, and a string of others who had previously held positions in government, made clear their desire for a contest.[107] In an unrelated incident, 12 backbenchers signed their names to a letter criticizing Brown in Progress magazine.[106] Eric Joyce, one of the MPs who signed this letter, said that Brown's future hinged on his performance at the upcoming Labour party conference.[107]
A Downing Street source responded to these revelations by stating that, "The Blairites
have been talking up the idea of loads of ministers resigning. But the
best they can come up with is an assistant government whip." Tony Lloyd, chairman of the parliamentary Labour Party, labelled the rebellion a "bit of a sideshow",[107] and Emily Thornberry MP called Brown the "best qualified" to lead Britain through the economic crisis of 2008.[106]
The Labour party admitted that it had received letters from a small
number of MPs querying why no nomination papers had been released.[106]
In the face of this growing speculation over Brown's future, the
majority of his ministers also backed him to lead the party, and two, Harriet Harman and David Miliband, vigorously denied that they were preparing leadership bids. After the shock loss that Labour suffered in the Glasgow East by-election
in July, Harman, the deputy leader of the party, suppressed rumours
regarding her intentions, saying that Brown was the "solution", not the
"problem"; Home Secretary Smith, Justice Secretary Jack Straw, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband all re-affirmed their support for Brown.[108] The deputy Prime Minister under Blair, John Prescott, also pledged his support.[109]
Foreign Secretary David Miliband was then forced to deny that he was
plotting a leadership bid, when on July 30, an article written by him
in The Guardian
was interpreted by a large number in the media as an attempt to
undermine Brown. In the article, Miliband outlined the party's future,
but neglected to mention the Prime Minister. Miliband, who had been
forced to quell rumours that he would run against Brown in the leadership election of 2007, responded to this by saying that he was confident Brown could lead Labour to victory in the next general election, and that his article was an attack against the fatalism that had dogged the party since the loss of Glasgow-East.[110]
Miliband continued to show his support for Brown in the face of the
challenge that emerged in September, as did Business Secretary John Hutton, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, and Chief Whip Geoff Hoon.[111]
STUNTMAN: Jon Templeton will act as Hugh Jackman's stunt double in the film Australia. Picture: MEGAN RAYLE
