Here’s the only thing you need to know about this morning’s Woman’s Hour programme: Brown won’t quit*.
Q: Do you owe it to [Labour] to quit as leader if you cannot get a decent majority?
Brown: I owe it to people to continue and complete the work that we’ve started of taking this country out of the global, financial recession. To be honest, going around the country, I feel there’s more to do to improve the health service, more to do to give people better opportunities, more to do for women on maternity pay and equal pay, more to do against the discriminations that still exist. We’ve got this campaign to get more women in the boardroom as well.
Q: Will you resign if you don’t get a majority?
Brown: I’ll keep going
Q: You will not quit?
Brown: No, I’ll keep going because I want a majority. I’ll keep going.
* I’ve had a funny feeling about this for months – if he could withstand all those ministerial resignations (Blears, Purnell, Smith, Hoon, Flint, Kennedy, Hutton, Kelly, etc, etc, etc) would Brown be deflected by a mere general election defeat?
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey