Guess who’s back. Yes, James Purnell, the man who tried his best to topple Gordon Brown last year, has emerged from the relative obscurity of the backbenches and Think-Tank World to set out a new prospectus for the Labour party in today’s Guardian. David nodded towards it earlier, but it’s worth looking at in a little more detail. Why? Well, because it’s an indication of how things could go for the post-election Labour party.
The first thing that strikes you is how Purnell tries to defuse the controversy of his resignation last year. “What?” you might think, “resigning from Brown’s government is controversial? Sane, more like.” And, yes, I see what you mean. But the fact remains that, inside the Labour party, there are folk who think Purnell was motivated by nothing more than hatred of Brown the man – as far as they’re concerned, it all seemed too personal.
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