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Brown ally steps down amid row over donations

A close ally of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Labour's leader in the Scottish parliament quit yesterday over a funding scandal.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:15 June 29, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: A close ally of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Labour's leader in the Scottish parliament quit yesterday over a funding scandal.

Brown has stumbled from one crisis to another in the 12 months since succeeding Tony Blair, squandering a big lead in opinion polls over the opposition Conservatives.

His Labour party now faces a serious risk of defeat to the Conservatives in the next British election due by May 2010. Brown's problems have included the collapse of mortgage lender Northern Rock, unpopular tax changes and an economic downturn.

One-day ban

Wendy Alexander, sister of Britain's minister for international development Douglas Alexander, said she would resign after a group of Scottish lawmakers recommended she should be banned from Scotland's parliament for one day.

Alexander, who has only been leader of the Labour party in the Scottish parliament since September, had failed to declare donations to her leadership campaign.

"I acted in good faith and on the written advice of parliamentary authorities. I believe there has been a breach of natural justice and a partisan decision," Alexander said.

"But I judge that this issue has become too much of a distraction on the real issues that should dominate our public life. I cannot ask Labour supporters in Scotland further forbearance."

In a further blow for Brown, one of his members of parliament -East Glasgow MP David Marshall - told party activists he was stepping down for health reasons. His decision will trigger a mid-term election for the seat.

Opinion polls this weekend showed Brown has suffered the fastest fall in popularity for a prime minister in at least 30 years, with David Cameron's Conservatives poised for a landslide triumph in the next parliamentary elections.

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