John Major’s mistake was to believe time would be a healer. It was not for him, nor will it be for Gordon Brown. Instead of nursing his wounds from the English locals, Crewe and Henley, he is facing a meltdown in his own back yard, as the Scottish Labour Party faces a by-election in Glasgow East next month without a leader, a mission or a discernable purpose.
But that’s not quite right. Wendy Alexander was leader of the Labour MSP group. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party is one G. Brown. This is his mess to fix, no one else’s. This is his stronghold which is melting, his home turf being overrun by Scottish nationalists.
In my News of the World column today, I note the inauspicious number of Labour votes in Henley – 1066. As every schoolboy used to know, this was the year of the Battle of Hastings.
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