Pressure in Southwold

When Gordon Brown starts thinking about his September reshuffle, will he punish David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary for failing to give unequivocal support to Gordon at the press conference given in Italy?



I detect the dead hand of Charles Clark behind the Miliband faux pas.

But in the mean time

"The leadership contest concept, which consisted in removing Gordon Brown and replacing him with a David Miliband, is abandoned"
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Who's Spartacus

Gordon Brown has been dragged into an embarrassing public spat with Harriet Harman over who is in charge of the Government during the Prime Minister's summer holiday. Daily Telegraph



One of Mr Brown's friends said: "Any of the pretenders has to know that if they are proposing to become Labour's third leader and prime minister in 18 months, they would come under intense pressure to have an election, and as things stand, that means losing."
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Harman minding the shop

Harriet Harman has sought to end the questions over who is in charge while Gordon Brown is on holiday by saying: "I'm minding the shop this week." BBC



Downing Street had earlier said that Ms Harman was one of "a number of senior ministers in London to deal with the day to day business of government". The spokesman said "the prime minister remains in charge while on holiday". But, after her comments, he said "she is the minister who is co-ordinating government business this week".
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Breakfast at Southwold

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I dunno. What'cha wanna do?

Yesterday, a series of Cabinet ministers took to the airwaves to urge MPs to back Mr Brown and to stop damaging talk of a leadership challenge.

Ed Balls, previously the Prime Minister's chief adviser at the Treasury, insisted the Cabinet was "behind" Brown.



Several senior backbench MPs including George Howarth and Charles Clarke are understood to have informally begun compiling lists of those who will support the backbench plot.

The scene is increasingly being set for a full-blown leadership challenge to emerge in the run-up to Labour's crucial annual conference in Manchester at the end of September.
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Shark Spotters Wanted

Conservationists are appealing for volunteers to spot basking sharks, which gather in their hundreds off the British coast. BBC



I bet there will be a few Labour party conservationists looking for a big shark during the summer holidays
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22% swing to the SNP

GORDON Brown was hit by a political Tsunami early this morning when the SNP snatched a sensational victory in the Glasgow East by-election.



The Prime Minister will now face a summer of discontent after the degree of Labour unpopularity was laid bare in what was previously the party's third-safest Scottish seat.

If the result were to be repeated at the next general election in Scotland, Labour would be ousted from government and more than 150 of the party's 350 MPs would lose their seats.
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We need you at home

Gordon Brown has called on British troops in Basra to bring the UK's work in Iraq to its conclusion.



He told British troops at Basra Air Station: "You are now working with the Iraqi forces to train them up so that they can take over their responsibilities, so that we can complete our work here to bring Basra to democracy, security and prosperity."
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UK Fiscal Rules (European Union profligacy)

Today it is reported that the government is considering rewriting its own fiscal rules on how much it can borrow in order to counter the effects of European Union profligacy.

The new rules, would permit the government to borrow more money as an alternative to increasing taxes.

The European Union cost the UK £12.6billion last year (the equivalent 5p in the £ income tax)

BETTER OFF OUT
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Their OFF!!

Breaking off from the G8 summit in Japan yesterday Gordon Brown said that he was the right man to steer Britain through troubled economic times. He insisted that the economy was still growing, with “very high” employment rates and comparatively low interest rates.



Labour finally got its Glasgow East by-election campaign up and running today. Some say this by-election could determine the future of Gordon Brown.
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A Moral Question

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision.

Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous.

Please scroll down slowly reading each line and give due consideration to each line.


THE SITUATION

You are in England, York to be specific.

There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding.

This is a flood of biblical proportions.

You are a photo-journalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.

You're trying to shoot career-making photos.

There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing into the water.

Nature is unleashing all its destructive fury.


THE TEST

Suddenly, you see a man in the water.

He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris.

You move closer... Somehow, the man looks familiar...
You suddenly realise who it is... It's Gordon Brown the Prime Minister! You noticed that the raging waters are about to take him under forever. You have two options:

You can save the life of Gordon Brown or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, documenting the death of one of the country's most powerful men!


THE QUESTION

Here's the question, and please give an honest answer...


Would you select high contrast colour film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?
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Mr Beaten's Cooked Book

Cut down on food waste so you can save enough to pay for the car tax hike and the 10 per cent EU biofuel target.

That seems to be the underlying message coming out of the cabinet office today.

Mr Beaten the Prime Minister has said think before you buy food - as research found British households are throwing away hundreds of pounds worth every year.

Gordon Brown said "unnecessary" purchases were contributing to price hikes that have left many people struggling to pay bills. Waste could be reduced by storing fruit and vegetables better to stop them going off, and planning meals so goods are used up rather than ditched.



The Government is publishing its long-awaited Gallagher report into biofuels today. The research is expected to conclude that biofuels have driven up global food prices, as farmers devote increasing amounts of agricultural land to growing them.



The report is highly critical of the EU's 10 per cent target for biofuel use in transport by 2020, which Prof Gallagher believes could worsen food shortages.

It seems to me that it is about time we started to put into store the 'fruits and vegetables' of this Labour Government.
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Pulling a McCavity

Councillor George Ryan the favoured Labour candidate for the Glasgow East by-election pulled a McCavity which has dealt a blow to Gordon Brown.



Mr Ryan did not turn up at the Labour Party candidate selection process in Glasgow East, so the Labour party has postponed the process until Monday evening. Telegraph
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Doomed

Crumbling business confidence, soaring oil prices, serial collapses in the housebuilding sector, plunging mortgage lending and a quarter of the stock market value of Marks & Spencer wiped out in a day:



The news flow has been dire.
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Tête de l’armée

Make no mistake ..........the Lisbon treaty and Dublin hang heavy over Paris and the French six-month rotating European Union presidency which starts today.

Ambitious French plans for a 60,000-strong European defence force, with a Brussels HQ and greater military co-operation among European Union member states has hit an obstacle.

The defence issue has been very sensitive in neutral Ireland and French proposals could be seized upon by Irish No campaigners, making the job of salvaging the Lisbon Treaty even more difficult.



Forget the elegant, understated events which will take place in Paris today to impress the political elite's of the European Union. It is all in sharp contrast with the rowdy joy that was celebrated in Dublin three weeks ago, when 'No' campaigners greeted the result of the Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon with a blast of smoking cigarettes in public places and more than a few pint of Guinness.


The US presidential election in November has complicated things even further because Sarkozy needs American approval for his defence plans before he takes France back into Nato's military command structure. He also faces opposition from Great Britain over long-standing French calls for a European Union military headquarters in Brussels
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