Opinion | Editorials

Brown's Labour is in pain

There is a sense of drift that can be terminal to Britain's ruling party.

  • Gulf News
  • Published: 00:03 May 13, 2008
  • Gulf News

Labour isn't working'' a slick advertisement proclaimed in the run-up to the 1979 British general election which ushered in the Thatcher years.

Gordon Brown today leads a different Labour Party from the one that fell to the Tories 29 years ago, but that advertisement sums up the party's present plight just as ruthlessly. It is not just the terrible local election results of earlier this month or that party discipline seems to have crumbled.

Cherie Blair and John Prescott have written memoirs heavily critical of Gordon Brown, and former ministers are coming out against the prime minister.

The real problem is that Brown is just not communicating, he is unable to get his message across. This all contributes to a sense of drift that can be terminal for any government. All is not yet lost; the next election is still two years away, but Labour has to start working again.


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