"'He'd quit if he thought anyone could do better': The astonishing reason Gordon Brown won't step down"

Another piece of interesting news in The Mail today. Apparently:

"Gordon Brown would stand down as Prime Minister ‘tomorrow’ – but he believes his Labour leadership rivals are so weak they would fare even worse than him against David Cameron at the next Election.

That is the astonishing reason Mr Brown has given for his refusal to step down despite a growing acceptance among Labour MPs that the party is heading for near certain Election defeat, according to friends of the Prime Minister.

They claim he realises he has only a slim chance of victory, but he believes his would-be successors all have key failings that would send the party’s ratings plunging further down.

Mr Brown’s supporters said he views Foreign Secretary David Miliband as ‘lightweight’, Home Secretary Alan Johnson as ‘lacklustre’, Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman as ‘a disaster’ and his protege, Schools Secretary Ed Balls, as ‘too aggressive’.

A leading Brown ally said: ‘Gordon knows things haven’t gone as he hoped and how tough things are going to be between now and the Election. He has said he would step down tomorrow if he thought anyone else could do any better.

‘But he thinks the ones who want the job most have very little to offer.’"

How damning to be called 'lacklustre' by one of the least shiny of modern politicians, 'a disaster' by the man who has almost singlehandedly destroyed the UK economy and social fabric, 'too aggressive' by the great destroyer of Nokias and 'lightweight' by the man whose whole reputation for economic competence has been based on his predecessors success. Yes this is really another 'deluded Gordon' story; Gordon Brown seems to think that he is better qualified than all his putative rivals.


At least Gordon Brown has Peter Mandelson to loyally support him, well it seems not, but then who would expect loyalty from Peter Mandelson?

"Meanwhile, Peter Mandelson’s support for Mr Brown came under question. It was revealed the peer has told fellow Ministers a cruel joke that suggests Tony Blair was a better Prime Minister because he is less paranoid.

Asked why Mr Brown had coped so badly with the stresses of running the country, Lord Mandelson replied: ‘If Tony and Gordon were stranded on a desert island surrounded by sharks, Tony would charm the sharks to carry him to safety. Gordon would sit there raging “Who sent the sharks?”’"

Gordon Brown a total disaster as Prime Minister, a total disaster for the UK. If he can't find a better alternative amongst his Labour 'colleagues' and he "would stand down as Prime Minister ‘tomorrow’" then why not call a general election tomorrow.