Inside Westminster: A sense of doom envelops the government

Published on Thursday 19 February 2009 21:03

THE smell of political corpses is wafting through the Labour corridors.

There is a sense of resignation that the next election is already lost and that Gordon Brown is a dead man walking.

So much so that speculation about the shape of Labour post-Gordon is already welling up.

Stories about Harriet Harman or Yvette Cooper posing a challenge appear on the surface far-fetched. Some very important circumstantial evidence to take into account: it is recess so there are fewer obvious political stories to write and everyone is combating recession fatigue.

But the very fact that this speculation been allowed to well up is angering some who see it as undermining the Prime Minister.

One Labour MP in a marginal seat (well more narrow than most) is sceptical about any imminent challenges, saying: "Gordon is the only one who can sort out the economy."

Another Labour source closer to the Prime Minister was also unfalteringly on message. "The Tories just don't have any concrete ideas. Where is George Osborne when it comes to finding solutions to fight the recession?"

One MP who previously had doubts about Mr Brown at the height of the leadership speculation last year was also not demurring.

"What he needs to concentrate on is reforming the global economic order. There are more fundamental questions to be addressed than the next election."

It adds up to a sense that Mr Brown is fighting for a cause that he believes to be bigger than his own fate. Like Tony Blair, he is taking the long view that his immediate survival or popularity is insignificant compared to how the history books will judge him.

The PM, according to insiders, does not have time to plan an election campaign, he is too busy trying to save the world from financial ruin.

Just don't mention the polls – no-one in Labour will comment on the record about the 20 point chasm which has seen the Tories charge ahead.

But privately, one long-time activist expressed a lament about why comrades were "running around in a panic".

He points out that the Tories were routinely 20 points behind when they were in government, and they went on to win elections. "You never saw them preparing for their own funerals," he said.

Some within Labour have still not come to grips with being in power. And too much doom-laden thought has a habit of becoming self-fulfilling.