The Labour Party is disunited. The events surrounding the Cabinet reshuffle over the past few days could not have illustrated that more graphically. As a result we are weakened and distracted, facing the twin crises of the economy and the reduction in public trust in our parliamentary system.
Unity comes, ultimately, from leadership; the party will follow. There will always be people who attack the leader, but the mainstream will follow a clear and decisive direction reflecting the values of the Labour Party.
My view is that the painful step of changing our leader, a leader who has given his life to the Labour Party and to public service, would be best for the party and the country. The choice is for the Prime Minister and the party. I believe that if we change, then we would go into the next election, whenever it was, so much stronger.
We urgently need to address this issue. Without clear direction the public will have so comprehensively written us off in their minds by the middle of next year, when the election is expected to take place, that recovery will be very difficult.
Gordon Brown faces a wholly new political situation from the one he inherited in 2007. It requires humility and the ability to change fundamentally in the eyes of a public fed up with and distrusting of the political class. It requires leadership different in type and culture from that which has gone before: more openness; a greater willingness to rely on a wider range of people; more explanation - as well as being focused on and frank about the economy.
It needs the leader to be the driver and the agent of very big change. This needs highly developed leadership skills. Gordon Brown has not displayed those skills.
My fear is that, in the face of this task, Gordon will find it difficult to carry the mainstream of the Labour Party with him. James Purnell, Nick Raynsford and Barry Sheerman all come from different parts of the party. All their interests and their instincts would be to follow the leadership of the party that they have each served for decades.
But each one of them is calling for leadership change because, like me, they believe that it is hard to unify under the current leader. All of us will have heard the activists who rail at those within the party who attack the leadership. That argument would normally prevail. But not in the current situation because it is so difficult for Gordon Brown, after 12 years as Prime Minister or Chancellor, to be a convincing agent of change.
And a change of culture in the way government is done is urgently needed. The message of the expenses scandal is that the public will not accept government being conducted in secret by a handful of people. There needs to be a much more open discussion of the issues. Only with that openness can trust gradually begin to be rebuilt.
That new openness needs to apply to Gordon's leadership. No plots. Instead debate. I am only one voice in this debate. These are very difficult judgments. But they matter so much to the future of this country and our party. We should debate this without rancour.
Our party does not lack credible, heavyweight figures. The reshuffle, with all its hiccups and resignations, produced a very strong Cabinet. Alistair Darling, David Miliband, Alan Johnson, Peter Mandelson, Jack Straw and Harriet Harman are each powerful, competent, front-rank figures. The new entrants into the Cabinet included Andrew Adonis, Bob Ainsworth and Ben Bradshaw. Each of them is a substantial figure. Bob Ainsworth, for all the sneering in the press, is someone whom his fellow politicians, civil servants and the Armed Services greatly respect.
And, but for our weakness, the Tories would be vulnerable. They scored only 38 per cent in the local elections, at a time when the governing party has been in power for 12 years. So we have the personnel. And the Opposition is not, yet, locked-in for victory in the next general election.
We have an opportunity. The best talent in our party could contest a leadership election - people such as David Miliband, Alan Johnson, Jon Cruddas, Harriet Harman - and we would then rally round whoever was the winner. That contest would allow the discussion we need to have about the direction of our party. And we could reconnect with the public; it would be the basis for a re-establishment of trust. The cloud of disunity and despair haunting our party would, I believe, lift.
None of this ensures we would win the next election. We would have to fight for that and for trust. But we would have renewed, at a time when politics could not seem more disengaged from the public. We would have listened, and we would have acted. We would be for the future. More of the same is no longer tenable.
While there is no constitutional requirement to have a general election after selecting another leader, there would be significant political pressure. But if there were important steps going on to clean up politics, for example, or initiate progress on parliamentary reform and change supported by other parties, then there would be a proper basis for waiting. It would depend on the new situation, and when the change occurred.
Would we go to the country under the shadow of the expenses scandal? It would certainly play its part. But as a party we would have shown our understanding of the need for profound change by choosing a new leader and adopting the direction given by that new leader.
Whatever the length of time under this new leader, we would be more strongly united around both a new leader and an agreed programme, rather than clinging, disunited and dissatisfied, to the present position.
Lord Falconer of Thoroton is a former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Excuse me if I don't blindly accept his judgement. He has form for making bad decision, I recall his legal opinion changing completely in order to deliver the right message not the correct deliberation. I hope Brown's war enquiry will reveal Charlie's unforgiveable role and he suffers for it.
Joe, Geelong, VIC Australia
My view is that the step of changing a leader who's given his life to the Labour Party and to public service and who also happens to be our P.M wouldn't be right without a clear code of conduct for Paliamentarians. Any M.P or P.M must lead to serve citizens, first. ie Once elected, M.P's are "ours".
Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley, Bacup, UK
Joe Middleton, you are absolutely correct. Clive Burghard you are also possibly right. I never thought it but cannot see now, how New Labour can continue even with another unelected 'PM'....
Austin Tassletine, South West, UK
Wow, Charlie, did you suddenly take a pill that makes you say all right things? If Labour want to beat the Torys they MUST abolish the 1989 Family Law Act URGENTLY, and give back the millions of children taken in secret HMCS Family Courts, they MUST apologize and they MUST compensate their victims.
J Falco, Barbican, London, UK
Men of England, stop your sleeping! Can't you hear your Country weeping? Restore our glory and our fame, End our chaos and our shame!
Garth Strong, Houston, USA
The problem is not just the leader, it is the political party itself and its policies. Labour sold their soul to the Tories to get power and then wasted their years in office. The rich have got richer and the poor poorer under Labour so what's the point of this party?
Joe Middleton, Edinburgh, Scotland
It's looking more and more like we are on the eve of a General Election, things have gone beyond simply selecting another leader for the Labour Party. The entire Government, is just so discredited that only an Election will stand any chance of restoring any credibility in the eyes of the World
Clive Burghard, Lancing, ENGLAND!
What the country needs is a new government, not Labour with a new leader. The reason Labour is unpopular is that as a government it has been almost a complete failure, for which Blair, Brown and all the leading Labour figures share the blame. Just go.
David, Cambridge, U.K.
The trouble with Brown is the baggage he has when becoming P.M. He has clearly failed the British public in a number of strategic areas such as boom / bust, gold reserves, unemployment, controlling the finance sector, pension raids, prudence with fiscal policies to name a few. But who else is there?
D. Areisait, Newbury, uk
Actually the country needs a leader. The current Prime Minister is only a leader in name. He has no power, no vision, no leadership, expecting total loyalty but giving nothing in return, We would like a General Election please.
John Goode, Welwyn Garden City, UK
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