Whether Gordon Brown survives or not is going to turn on the question of how many Cabinet ministers—if any—are prepared to tell Brown that he must go or they will. Brown’s personal standing with his colleagues is now key to his future. So, it was fascinating to see that it was Des Browne who was sent onto the Today programme, and the other morning shows, to gamely try and spin last night’s result.
Browne has been appallingly badly treated by his near namesake. First of all, Brown lumped responsibility for the Scottish Office on Browne despite the fact that Browne was Secretary of State for Defence at a time when Britain was engaged in two wars. Second, the PM went to Iraq during the Tory conference and announced a troop withdrawal. Browne was reportedly not consulted about this beforehand and the move further undercut his standing with the services.
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