Paris is an intriguing place from which to launch a leadership bid. It has taken a little while for this footage to break into the British blogosphere, via Tameside Mafia, Iain Dale and Sam Coates, but here is James Purnell, Work and Pensions Secretary, and the newest contender to rescue the Labour Party and country should Gordon Brown's premiership come to a premature end.
Last Thursday, Purnell gave this interview to France 24, in which he was asked about his reaction to featuring on the front of The Spectator as the man to save Labour: ‘Embarrassment, mainly, and befuddlement, because there is no such question at the moment.’ Asked again, he repeated, ‘there is no such question at the moment’, and added, ‘Gordon Brown is a good Prime Minister’.
Most remarkably, Purnell, ministre du Travail et des Retraites britannique, then gave almost the same interview, with a different presenter, in French.
Neat way of advertising Purnell's unusual biography - he was brought up in France - although his delivery was a little dull rather than prime ministerial. (He was in Paris to talk to his opposite number about pensions policy.)
Still, I wonder if Purnell's run, as the youngest member of the Cabinet (he's 38) might have influenced David Miliband (43) to edge a bit further into the ring, telling Adam Boulton on Sky at the weekend that he was "not in the market for any job other than the one I have got at the moment". So that's two non-denials from the next-generation front-runners in the space of four days. This is going to get more interesting.
David Miliband is of course 42 for two more months. Got ahead of myself. Tony Blair was 41 when he became Labour leader and four days short of 44 when he became Prime Minister.
Posted by: John Rentoul | Monday, 26 May 2008 at 09:31 PM
The PM lost an eye, and a child and remained mentally strong. He is a very mentally strong guy. He is clever and mentally strong that is what this country needs.
Purnell is clever but he should not be thrown in at the deep end, before he is ready. He has potential. Milliband seems a bit young too. Look at what the office of PM in France did to that socialist in '93 who got a heavy defeat. People should be given the office when they are ready, not thrown in at the deep end to meet a tory leader on form, and a tory press, and bias form the public school maffia that are at present in a bad bad mood with labour. These young ones need to be kept in kit gloves not wasted, and thrown to the lions.
Posted by: dirty european socialist | Monday, 26 May 2008 at 11:16 PM
"The PM lost an eye, and a child and remained mentally strong"
An interesting take on the required qualifications to assume the highest political office in the land.
Labour are heading for electoral death. He remains unelected by the country, and indeed by his own party.
The tectonic plates have shifted as that Prescott chap might have put it. Labour has lumbered itself with an asocial control freak....they are now paying the price. There will be no change of leadership until the aftermath of the 2010 election when there will not be more than 100 Labour MPs in the HoC.
Posted by: Gary | Tuesday, 27 May 2008 at 05:42 AM
Gary Lbaour will win because the PM never gives in. Caling people fraks is deeply offensive and bullying.
Why does no one seem to care that tory toffs want to force the disabled people of benfits. They will wreck the lives of millions of people. Do people go into politcis so they can make disbaledpeople have terrible lives?
Posted by: dirty european socialist | Tuesday, 27 May 2008 at 11:33 AM
DES:
1. A control freak is not the same as a freak.
2. If Brown is so clever, why did he abolish the 10p rate without making proper provision for the lowest earners who would lose as a result? Either he didn't understand the effect of what he was doing (in which case he's not so clever) or he did (and he's prepared to do down the poorer members of society in order to get a quick cheer in the Commons). Either way, he's not such a hero.
3. The number of people claiming disabilty benefits is staggeringly high. There must be some on disability benefit who should not be. That is not to say that there are many on disability benefit who should be, of course. Any sensible government would want to reduce the number of those on disability benefit who should not be on it. It is nothing to do with being a "Tory toff".
4. If we are talking leaders' children, Mr Cameron has a child with Down's syndrome. I doubt whether Mr Cameron's aim as Prime Minister will be to make disable people have terrible lives.
Posted by: An Old Boy | Tuesday, 27 May 2008 at 04:43 PM
Old Boy But how do you know it is too high. I have heard many ill people cannot get on the benefit. This is just chucking the ill onto tough lives. A toff might not recognise that not all disabled people have a family to support them. That is the whole point in the welfare state.
He did create the mini wage, the new deal and he introduced to 10p tax in the first place. All in all lower income people have benefitted under his rule.
Posted by: dirty european socialist | Tuesday, 27 May 2008 at 09:56 PM
DES, here are the facts:
1. Beteen 1979 and 2007 he number of those on incapacity benefit rose from about 800,000 to 2.7 million.
2. The UK now has the highest proportion of people of working age with a disability in the developed world.
3. The rise in numbers is over a period of rising standards of health care (including 11 years of this government) and when the number of those working in physically dangerous jobs (e.g. mining) has declined sharply.
4. The average age of those claiming this benefit has fallen.
Posted by: An Old Boy | Wednesday, 28 May 2008 at 11:34 AM