Brown faces open mutiny (15)
Gordon Brown is facing open mutiny in his Cabinet today as a fourth minister resigned.
Arch Blairite John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, quit just as the Prime Minister was desperately trying to shore up his position with an emergency reshuffle.
The Defence Secretary is famously reported as saying Mr Brown would be a ‘f****** awful’ Prime Minister.
Sources blamed his departure on ‘family reasons’ but its timing suggests it can only be a highly political move designed to further weaken Mr Brown and potentially deliver a mortal blow.
The move came just 12 hours after James Purnell sensationally quit as Work and Pensions Secretary in a deliberate attempt to topple the beleaguered Premier.
The Prime Minister bowed to pressure and agreed to keep on Alistair Darling as Chancellor instead of replacing him with close ally Ed Balls in order to sidestep another potentially mortal blow to his position.
Mr Darling, who has been under serious fire for his expense claims and was widely expected to be axed, is said to have turned down two other senior posts in the administration, leaving the Prime Minister little option.
Mr Brown also moved Health Secretary Alan Johnson, the favourite to succeed him, to the Home Office in a bid to appease another key figure in his splintered Cabinet after a stunning act of treachery by Mr Purnell last night.
The Blairite young pretender left Mr Brown on the brink after telling him, within seconds of the local and European elections closing, that he should leave Number Ten for the good of the party.
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Updates:
3:53 pm EDT, June 5th, 2009 — Brown reshuffle – Caroline Flint plunges in the knife
3:57 pm EDT, June 5th, 2009 — Caroline Flint’s resignation letter
4:04 pm EDT, June 5th, 2009 — Labour facing council election disaster
4:09 pm EDT, June 5th, 2009 — Labour MP Ian Gibson resigns
4:11 pm EDT, June 5th, 2009 — Brown’s fate could be sealed by Monday
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