In yesterday’s diary on the Orange One I gave the background to a letter to Blair in effect telling him to go and go now. Today seven of the signatories, one junior minister and six “Parliamentary Private Secretaries” – the first unpaid rung on the ministerial ladder – resigned their posts. These were not traditional left wingers but avowed “Reformers”, i.e. even more right-wing than Blair. Their motives are pure self-interest as no doubt they will be expecting office in the next Government, probably under Gordon Brown, the present Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister).
The former Opposition Leader, Iain Duncan Smith, dubbed himself “the Quiet Man”. Today the biggest threat to Blair was the Silent Man, his next door neighbour Gordon Brown.
Update [2006-9-6 17:18:15 by Londonbear]:: An 8th holder of a junior government post has resigned. Iain Wright was a PPS and was handpicked to replace Peter Mandleson when he became an EU Commissioner
The depth of the schism can be judged from the letters exchanged between the most senior to resign, junior Defence minister Tom Watson and Blair. Watson, while professing his “New Labour” confidential writes in his “Dear Tony” letter:
Your leadership has been visionary and remarkable.
The party and the nation owes you an incalculable debt.
So it is with the greatest sadness that I have to say that I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country.
How and why this situation has arisen no longer matters.
I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country that the only way the party and the government can renew itself in office is urgently to renew its leadership.
For the sake of the legacy you have long said is the only one that matters – a renewed Labour party re-elected at the next general election – I urge you to reconsider your determination to remain in office.
It also lets slip this indication of the panic in the Blair camp as they tried to get him to withdraw his signature from the original letter.
As you know, I had a conversation with the chief whip last night, in which she asked me to withdraw my support from the 2001 intake’s letter calling on you to stand down, or my position would be untenable as a government minister.
Instead of succeeding this approach was completely the wrong tactic for the Blairites. It shows his weakness and instead of firing Watson first, Blair gave him enough time to set the agenda by resigning. Briefings given to the press were obviously more bitter as the BBC political editor indicates he was told it was not necessary for Watson to resign as he would have been fired anyway. Blair’s letter is a bit less petulant but indicates some degree of distance from reality.
The way to renew and win again now is not to engage in a divisive – and since I have already made it clear I will be leaving before the election – totally unnecessary attempt to unseat the party leader, less than 15 months after our historic third term victory; but through setting out the policy agenda for the future combined with a stable and orderly transition that leaves ample time for the next leader to bed in.
We are three years from the next election.
We have a strong policy platform.
There is no fundamental ideological divide in the Labour Party for the first time in 100 years of history.
For the first time ever, we have the prospect not just of two but three successive full terms.
To put all this at risk in this way is simply not a sensible, mature or intelligent way of conducting ourselves if we want to remain a governing party [Or “ya boo you are disloyal, a fool, immature and stupid”]
His comment about the lack of ideaological differences is interesting. Perhaps it is an indication that he has driven traditional socialists out of his party.
One person who is spun as a traditional socialist despite being a co-founder of New Labour is Gordon Brown. He was possibly the one person who would have made a difference if he had expressed support for Blair today. Instead the Silent Man snuck out of a meeting at 10 Downing Street via the back door to avoid facing the press. Relations between Brown and Blaie are said to have broken down recently and for Brown this is obviously the time for his “Granita Revenge”. After that infamous meeting Brown came away with the impression Blair had guaranteed to go in his second term as PM and support him in the subsequent internal election. Lately there have been rumbles that Blair is casting around for a more “suitable” successor. It is almost certain that there will be a contested leadership election rather than the “coronation” of Brown that had been expected.
If Brown remains silent we are probably looking at Blair going this year rather than resigning the leadership on 31 May 2007 as was obviously leaked to the Sun for today’s headline. With this dominating the headlines and news bulletins, only a “Grantina 2” is likely to let Blair survive past the Labour Party conference at the end of the month.
