Will Gordon listen to this advice?

Jackie Ashley, a commentator who is generally seen as on side with the Brown project, has written a piece on how the Prime Minister can begin to recover. She spends most of the article explaining why the green shoots of recovery were already popping up at PMQs but there is a real sting in the tale. After explaining the importance of Labour backbenchers getting behind the PM, she then says:

“It doesn’t help, if Brown wants loyalty from his MPs, that he’s unwilling to give it back. Yesterday’s shameful reluctance to support Harriet Harman was not Brown’s finest hour. Harman’s team insist she did nothing wrong, and unless it is proved otherwise, she deserves the prime minister’s support.

It won’t be easy for Gordon Brown to dig himself out of the hole he has fallen into in recent weeks. But a broad back, an ability to say sorry, a coolness under fire and an unwillingness to dump on colleagues would certainly help.”