Ruth Kelly is to leave the cabinet but will anyone notice? Her most memorable moment was her opposition to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (which she appears to have opposed simply because it conflicted with her Bronze-Age sky-fairy religion) and it can be no great loss to the country that she is to leave her position.
On the subject of Gordon Brown, the BBC quote her as saying:
"I cannot think of anyone better than Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party. He is a towering figure in the Labour Party."
This is either a stunning lack of imagination (surely she could think of someone, Jack Straw perhaps, or a Miliband?), a mis-placed sense of loyalty to a broken and useless leader or a damning indictment of the state of the Labour Party. Can they really find nobody better than Brown?
If it really is the case that Labour ministers would rather resign than work in the Cabinet (spending more time with the family being code for "I want out before I am pushed or everything goes completely tits-up") then Brown really should either start making some tough decisions (which he does not appear able to do) or call a general election.
It looks, however, as if he will hang on till May 2010 hoping for something to improve, although this didn't work for John Major and it is unlikely to work for Brown. Brown should go quickly to the polls and let the Conservatives burn their popularity cleaning up the mess. The Labour Party (with a new leader) might then have a chance at the 2013 elections but if they allow Brown to govern till 2010 they will be out of Government for a decade or more.
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