A WEE COUP FOLLOWED BY A BIG COUP

So suddenly, after months of 'Tory Cuts' v 'Labour Investment' propaganda from the figure of fun that is currently resident in Downing Street, it appears to be that it is ‘Tory Cuts’ v ‘Labour Cuts’, as Darling and Mandleson seem to have triumphed over Balls as the guiding hands on Brown's rudder.

The Chancellor, indicating a dramatic shift in his party’s election strategy, tells The Times in an exclusive (kindly shared with Munguin’s Republic) that severe spending restraints are “non-negotiable” if he is to bring down the £178 billion budget deficit.

So all that twaddle we were told about having to spend our way out of recession was just erm.... twaddle? When Ken Livingstone was on the Politics Show the other day saying that the cuts would mean a descent back into recession, and when he said that Brown was right to keep public spending levels high, he was misspeaking?

Darling told The Times: “The next spending review will be the toughest we have had for 20 years. Cutting the borrowing was never negotiable. Gordon accepts that, he knows that.”

Mandelson said: “We have got to win people back to our side. We are a national party, a party that represents people in every part of the United Kingdom, and we are going to offer policies that will benefit people in every part of the United Kingdom.”

Their remarks reinforce the impression that ministers used Brown’s temporary weakness on Wednesday afternoon to warn him that he had to be more collegiate to retain their support and to ensure that the party again fights the election as “New Labour”. The Chancellor’s language about cuts in his interview would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago.

So the real coup was not the seriously hapless joke launched by the two wannbe has beens, Hoon and Hewitt, but a much more serious and deadly one run by Mandleson and Darling.

How humiliating for Brown and his little poodle Balls. All the class warfare will go out the window. Appealing to the core vote is decidedly passé. In short, Brown has been reminded that, unless he can persuade the middle class voter with 2 cars, 2 holidays, and a daughter with a pony, living in a nice detached villa somewhere in the South East of England that they will be better off under Labour, then they are sunk.

Tough luck on all the people in the North of England, in Wales and in Scotland who thought that just maybe it might be their turn. Yeah! Like that was ever going to happen.

The new question has to be, now that he is totally humiliated and powerless, just how long can Brown last?

CACK-HANDED COUP BY HAS BEENS

I suppose that the story of the day, apart from the weather of course, is the cack handed coup disorganised by the lovely Patricia Hewitt and the even lovelier Geoff Hoon. (The Daily Mail referred to them as Labour's big guns!*!*!)

They have written to all Labour MPs proposing that the issue of Brown’s leadership be sorted for once and all. Mr Hoon and Mrs Hewitt said the party was "deeply divided" over the leadership. "The continued speculation and uncertainty is allowing our opponents to portray us as dispirited and disunited......... We hope that you will support this proposal [for a secret ballot]."

Brown, who was told of the challenge minutes before he arrived in the Commons, had to wait two and a half hours before any members of his Cabinet came out publicly in his support. It was 3 pm before Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary, condemned the move as "a huge distraction that nobody wants". Fifteen minutes later Mandelson, released a statement urging colleagues not to overreact but to carry on with the business of government. Alistair Darling, Alan Johnson and Jack Straw, tonight backed Brown. David Miliband and Harriet Harman have yet to make any comment.

Both Hoon and Hewitt are arch Blairites. Hewitt left Cabinet on Brown’s appointment as Prime Minister citing personal reasons; however Hoon was Chief Whip for a time under Brown.

Philip Webster, political editor of The Times writes that this coup may join the lengthening list of failed attempts to remove Gordon Brown. If the first reactions of Labour MPs are taken as a guide, it appears that Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt may be the wrong people delivering their message at precisely the wrong time. Labour's polling position has improved in recent weeks and there was genuine anger among MPs this lunchtime that the leadership question had been reopened in such a devastating way. It was timed to coincide with the first Prime Minister's Question Time of the new year. Brown knew all about it before he entered the chamber but that did not stop him producing one of his best recent Commons performances against David Cameron.

There was no immediate sign that the coup was gaining traction. That does not mean it will inevitably falter. If the two senior MPs have made their move knowing that a Cabinet minister, or ministers, are ready to join the revolt, then Brown is indeed in severe trouble, possibly fatally so.

Let us hope that the coup fails dismally. Labour’s only chance of success lies with the removal of Gordon Brown.

(I'm having difficulty imagining what they are discussing in the picture above. Fishing stories? looks like whatever it is old Pat's is bigger than Geoff's.)