Across the pond

Gordon Brown goes into the bank holiday weekend dithering once again. Back-tracking on his stern denunciation of Hazel Blears for her ‘un-acceptable’ behaviour. He was going to fire her, after the revelations about her ‘flipping’ of her second homes. But now her friends in the cabinet are arguing that she has been made a scape-goat. And that other heavy-weights in the cabinet, like Geoff Hoon and James Purnell are equally guilty.

No mention has yet been made of Alastair Darling, who is also accused of ‘flipping’. But even the Tories don’t want Gordon to fire him. Since he is proving a good Chancellor of the Exchequer, and we are in the worst recession since the 1930s. It might be bad for all of us if Darling got replaced by some upstart who would have to learn the job in a few days.

These are only a few of the worries Brown will have to think about during the break.

Peter Mandelson, now my Lord Mandelson, the twice fired Blairite Labour Minister, is up to his tricks yet again. Brown brought him back into his cabinet as Business Secretary. Because he felt he needed to have support from the Blairites. But over the last few days stories have been appearing in the press suggesting that in his post-European election reshuffle, Brown was going to appoint Mandelson to the even more prestigious post as Foreign Secretary. Which, of course, is a job he is qualified to do, after all his experience with the European Commission in Brussels.

But, as it happens there is already a Foreign Secretary, David Milibrand, who has done a decent job and is well below retiring age. (He is about 40.) Today, according to The Times chats with Downing Street, Milibrand has been assured that he is not going to be fired. (He cannot be promoted because the only job higher than Foreign Secretary is Prime Minister, a post that is not yet vacant.)

But, of course, it soon will be. Because quite clearly Gordon Brown has lost his authority in cabinet and even more amungst the electorate at large.

So when he considers his reshuffle this weekend, Gordon Brown, needs to see the obvious. That the only way he can deal with the anger of the electorate and of many of his own ministers and MP’s is to fire himself.

Not because he has acted immorally or un-ethically. But because he has made a pig’s ear of his main job as Prime Minister, having failed to deal with the festering sore of MP’s expenses, which is now threatening the authority of Parliament and the fabric of our democracy.