Miliband urged to depose Brown

[SO19]

MILIBAND URGED TO DEPOSE BROWN
By Jason Groves and Kirsty Buchanan

DAVID Miliband was last night being urged to challenge Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership to save the party from meltdown in a general election.

The Foreign Secretary, reported to be holding a weekend “summit” with allies at his country retreat in Chevening, Kent, is seen by many as Labour’s best hope of heading off David Cameron’s resurgent Tories.

Senior Blairites, including former spin chief Alastair Campbell, are pressing him to depose the Prime Minister for the good of the party.

As Mr Brown prepared to tour TV studios today to accept the blame for Labour’s woes, a senior party source told the Sunday Express that Mr Miliband was close to agreeing to put himself forward.

The source said: “David’s going for it – he will challenge.”

Labour MP Graham Stringer said senior ministers were actively considering whether to mount a coup. He added: “These conversations are going on.”

Westminster was also buzzing with speculation that Justice Secretary Jack Straw is preparing to put himself forward as a potential caretaker leader.

Prominent Labour activist Alex Hilton said “well-placed” party sources were reporting that Mr Straw had begun drawing up a bid.

Mr Straw did little to dampen speculation yesterday when he appeared to distance himself from Mr Brown.

Mr Straw said voters had wanted to “punish” Mr Brown – before hurriedly correcting himself to say “punish us” – for scrapping the 10p tax rate.

Other potential leadership candidates, including Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson, were lying low yesterday. Backbench rebel Ian Gibson said Mr Brown had six months to sort out Labour or face some “really hard talking” at the party’s autumn conference.

Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell said the Prime Minister should “start listening” or “get out of the I'M A SCAMMER SPAMMER!!! if it’s too hot”.

And Health Minister Ivan Lewis warned Labour needed to “shape up”. One senior minister said leadership plotting was “inevitable” in the wake of the election disaster – although he warned that any bid to oust Mr Brown would only damage the party. He told the Sunday Express that Mr Brown had to display bold leadership and show Labour and the country what he stands for.

He added: “It is going to be a terrible week for all of us. People will be looking to Gordon to show us how he is going to deal with it, how he’s going to keep us together.

“He has got a job on to convince people that he is able to sort this out.”

Derek Wyatt said he and other Labour MPs were now defending seats that were “not just marginal but sub-prime”.

He blamed Mr Brown for a “supreme own goal” over the 10p tax rate. And he called for a Cabinet clearout, adding: “Some of the senior ministers have been there too long.”

Meanwhile Mr Brown’s problems worsened last night when Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said he will this week take the first steps in an audacious bid to seize control of North Sea oil.

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney will demand an immediate increase in Scotland’s share of oil revenue – estimated to be worth around £56billion to the UK economy over the next six years.

A source said: “In his present enfeebled political position the Prime Minister is in no position to say ‘No’.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/433 ... pose-Brown