Same old Gordon

Perhaps the most comic aspect of the past few days is how the Cabinet and then the PLP have been persuaded to give Gordon Brown a stay of execution by promises that Brown would be more collegial and call off his bully boys. (I’ve lost count of the number of times Gordon Brown is said to have made this pledge). But the Brown operation ain’t going to change as this story in The Independent makes clear:

“…on the same day as his Parliamentary Labour Party speech, hard-nosed Brownites were telling journalists that Mr Purnell had quit because he was not up to his challenging welfare brief (a myth) and were threatening to expose mistakes in one MP’s expenses claims if he joined the revolt.”