Is Labour on a kamikaze mission?

Yesterday’s alleged coup attempt by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt ‘to decide once and for all whether Labour MPs want Gordon Brown to lead them in the coming general election’ looked organized, well thought out and purposeful at the start. They emailed fellow Labour MPs before PMQs asking them to vote by secret ballot on whether they want Brown to lead them in the next election. And supposedly this plan had the blessing and backing of six Cabinet ministers. Both Hoon and Hewitt do not strike me as injudicious people, so what went wrong? While the act itself was well intended its timing was very poor. This type of survey should have been carried out last summer, sometime before the Labour conference. It would have generated conflicting headlines at the time but its impact and outcome would have been much better, it might even have delivered the intended result and strengthened the party, thus presenting it in a strong and united light.

Hours later came a very lukewarm support for the prime minster from one of his close and trusted allies, Ed Balls. It was then followed by more warmish words of support from Darling, David Miliband, and Bob Ainsworth and of course the Harman with her trademark, “We’re all getting on with the job as Ministers in the Government which Gordon Brown leads,” she said unsurprisingly. By the end of yesterday we were all wondering is this it?! How disorganized and spineless has Labour become? And what on earth are they doing to them self? Brown’s supporters took a long time to come to his aid but none of their words were heartfelt, they sounded basic, jaded and very textbook. All of this makes you question is Labour on a kamikaze mission?

A few things emerged from yesterday’s episode; Brown is irremovable and very resilient and he will fight the next election as Labour’s leader come what may. It is also very clear that Labour is tired, confused and emotionally distraught. They have been in government longer than they are able to sustain and they are off course. Realizing their time is up pains them, but knowing that it might be decades before they are back again in office simply terrifies them.

The Hoon-Hewitt plan though has been described as a coup in reality it was a desperate badly timed final attempt to save and unite a dysfunctional party. But that is not why it flopped, it failed because the party no longer trusts and beliefs in each other.