If there is a plot, Gordon Brown has certainly lost it. But talk of a cabinet putsch is probably wide of the mark. The likelihood of huddles of Labour backbench MPs successfully wielding the knife against the Prime Minister also seems remote.
It was only a few months ago, during the last leadership spasm, that the veteran backbencher Austin Mitchell told me that Labour MPs were too incompetent to carry out a political execution. Their mood, according to Frank Field, now lurches between desperation or resignation: desperate to hold their seats and willing to contemplate a leadership challenge – or resigned to losing. It is a sign of deep trouble for Mr Brown when his little ray of sunshine, Hazel Blears, writes an article attacking his recent YouTube performance.
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