Meltdown for Brown as Labour falls apart
GORDON Brown’s authority was in freefall today after a string of resignations left his Government on the brink of disintegration.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today announced she would step down on the eve of crunch European and local elections.
She is the fourth minister to quit in 24 hours.
Yesterday, in a day of unprecedented political chaos, shamed Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and two other ministers announced they were quitting Labour’s frontbench.
Ms Smith – disgraced in the expenses scandal – confirmed she will step down rather than wait to be sacked in the imminent Cabinet reshuffle.
Junior ministers Beverley Hughes and Tom Watson – a staunch ally of the Prime Minister – also signalled their intention to resign.
And fears of a mass exodus from Labour are spreading after senior backbenchers Patricia Hewitt and David Chaytor declared they would quit Parliament at the next election.
Mr Chaytor announced his resignation hours before he and three other Labour MPs were banned from standing as party candidates following the expenses scandal.
The shock desertions ignited speculation that Mr Brown could now face a co-ordinated attempt to force him out of Number 10 within days.
The rash of departures led to a sense of unprecedented crisis at the heart of the Government.
This is government by rumour and dither. They’re falling apart in advance of the general election.
Tory frontbencher William Hague yesterday derided the Government as “just a row of political corpses”. He said: “This is government by rumour and dither. They’re falling apart in advance of the general election.”
Tories and the Lib Dems will unite next week in a bid to use a Parliamentary motion to force Mr Brown to call an election.
The Prime Minister is set to try to freshen up his Cabinet in the wake of an expected trouncing for Labour in local and Euro elections on Thursday.
He has already all but confirmed that Chancellor Alistair Darling is to be demoted from the Treasury after being disgraced in the expenses scandal.
But the Prime Minister’s hopes of an orderly reshuffle were shattered yesterday. All three exiting ministers insisted they were leaving for “family reasons” and declined to voice any criticism of Mr Brown.
One source said Ms Smith chose to quit following pressure on her family after the Sunday Express exposed £10 expenses claims for adult films watched by her husband.
She was also criticised for claiming a second-home allowance for her family home in Redditch while nominating a room in her sister’s London home as her main residence.
But despite confirmation from her office that she was resigning, Downing Street refused to acknowledge her departure.
The PM’s spokesman said: “I’m not going to comment on private conversations which may or may not have taken place between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues. Anything else is just speculation.”
Meanwhile, Mr Watson’s resignation was being seen as a serious blow to the PM.
The Cabinet Office Minister has been a ferociously loyal, long-standing ally of Mr Brown.
Ms Hughes insisted her decision to step down as Children’s Minister and as an MP was also for “personal reasons”.
In contrast, Mr Chaytor said he was quitting in order “to explain my errors” over expense claims. He is to repay almost £13,000 he claimed to cover his mortgage payments months after the loan was paid off.
Last night, Labour officials announced that Mr Chaytor and fellow backbenchers Ian Gibson, Margaret Moran and Elliot Morley would all be barred from standing for the party at the next election as a result of the expenses scandal.
