The Blairites have moved, now the left must

Siobhain McDonagh has become the first person to quit their payroll job in an attempt to force a leadership contest. If others are brave enough to follow her example, then the game really will be afoot.

The Progress article by a dozen Blairite MPs which is scathingly critical of where and how Labour is being led is also a clear statement of intent. What should worry the Brownites about it though, is that some names are noticeable by their absence; suggesting that there might be a plan for a programme of rolling criticism of Brown in the run up to conference.

But as long as the campaign to force Brown out can be depicted as some kind of Blairite conspiracy then Brown is relatively safe. If the left—and I mean the mainstream left—were to join in by offering their own critique of the Prime Minister, then Brown would be in big trouble.