What goes around comes around

Some of the rumours surrounding possible attempts to remove Gordon Brown as Prime Minister must be familiar to him.

One increasingly strong suggestion is that September will herald a wave of resignations from Ministers and Parliamentary Private Secretaries in protest at his leadership.

Such a move would mirror the failed coup by some of Mr Brown’s closest allies in September 2006 in an effort to get rid of Tony Blair.

Several of those involved were later handed plum jobs in Brown’s Government including Tom Watson, who resigned as a Defence Minister under Blair but was then handed a key post in the Cabinet Office as soon as his mate Gordon entered Number 10.

Brown’s reputation for bullying colleagues and enemies whilst at the Treasury was well-deserved.

For him, instilling fear in others and ruling by dictat were very much the norm.

To my mind, the events of the last couple of days underline one key fact above all others – the fear factor has gone.

David Miliband’s article, press conference and general demeanour of yesterday demonstrated this vividly.

So too have countless briefings being given by Labour MPs to political journalists.

Yes, the vast majority of these have been off the record thus far but don’t be surprised if this changes over the next few weeks.

A General Election must be held

If ever more evidence were needed that the British people have had enough of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, it came in the early hours of this morning with Labour’s Glasgow East by-election defeat.

It has already been described by some political commentators as the biggest by-election shock in modern history and it’s hard to argue with this view.

Indeed, yesterday the bookies were continuing to strongly favour a Labour win.

The upshot of all of this is that the people of this country – you and me – now have a problem.

We are being led by a Prime Minister who has lost the moral authority to govern. And, around the Cabinet table, he is surrounded by several senior ministers – including the Home Secretary and Chancellor – likely to lose their seats at the next Election.

Meanwhile, our nation’s economy is slipping ever further towards recession.

As it stands, we may have to put up with another two years of this before the General Election is called, and goodness knows what state the public finances will be in by then.

The Prime Minister’s position is now untenable and the Labour Government’s standing unsustainable.

Something clearly has to give and, in the best interests of the country, give soon.

An early General Election seems the only credible way out.

Planning for the revolution

Conservative Leader David Cameron and Shadow Skills Secretary David Willetts yesterday launched a new policy paper containing ambitious plans for “a training and apprenticeship revolution” in this country.

The proposals include:

· A huge expansion in the number of apprenticeships backed by £775 million of new money to support apprentices of all ages
· A £100 million fund to increase learning opportunities for young people not currently in education, employment or training
· Cuts in wasteful bureaucracy at further education colleges
· Extra money to improve careers advice services

As Chair of the Leeds City Region Skills and Labour Market Panel, I am acutely aware of the problems we face locally in relation to skills shortages and the huge need for improvement if our young people are to achieve their full potential for themselves and for the economy.

I hope these very well thought out proposals can serve as the basis for this to happen under a future Conservative Government.

No policies to tackle knife crime

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday outlined a number of supposedly new “shock tactics” to be used against young offenders caught in possession of a knife.

It has since emerged that these measures were first announced in a Home Office press release at the beginning of last month so aren’t new at all.

Although quick to reject sensible Conservative calls for anyone carrying a knife to go to jail, it is clear the Government has no strategy to deal with this terrifying scourge on our streets.

As ever with Labour Ministers, it’s cheap headlines first, serious policy development second.