Labour MP urges Brown to step down

London: Gordon Brown faced an outright call from a Labour MP to resign in the "best interests" of the Labour Party.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said he hoped the prime minister would admit on reflection he was a liability to his own party.

"I hope Gordon reflects on things during August and accepts that it is in the party's best interests, and perhaps his own, for him to stand down," Prentice said yesterday, adding that the government had "gone a bit rusty".

"A prime minister must be able to communicate, persuade and enthuse," he said. "If not, the message is lost. I want to see an open leadership election where the bar in terms of nominations is not set so high so as to exclude credible candidates."

Prentice is the first MP to call directly on the PM to stand down since last week's disastrous Glasgow East by-election. A rebel who opposed top-up fees and foundation hospitals, he told his local party chiefs last week that he had lost confidence in Brown. "I just think we need a new leader," he said. "Someone has got to speak out."

The call came as allies fought back against Labour plotters yesterday by warning of an early general election if Brown is ousted. They raised the stakes by insisting pressure for an election would be "unstoppable" if a new prime minister was installed for the second time since 2005 without voters having a say.

Early poll warning

A former No 10 spin doctor warned of a "catastrophic defeat" that could keep Labour out of office for up to 15 years. "Every possible test has shown the party in such dire straits that we're not just heading for defeat at the next election but such a catastrophic defeat that frankly it could take two, perhaps three, general elections for Labour to be back in a position of coming back to power," Lance Price told Sky News.

Labour backbenchers' chairman Tony Lloyd said Prentice's views were not shared by most MPs, but said the government needed "sharper focus" and Brown must "get across what he is about".

Meanwhile, two new polls yesterday confirmed the party would lose badly if the election was held immediately.

One ex-minister rejected the Brownite argument, saying: "The idea we would have to have an election could be spun away by saying the new leader would need time to show himself to voters."

There were reports yesterday of a plot by 30 Labour MPs to write an open letter to the Cabinet demanding a leadership contest.