STRANDED AT THIRD:

Blair and Brown unite against rebel MPs (GERRI PEEV AND FRASER NELSON, 5/09/05, The Scotsman)

TONY Blair and Gordon Brown will unite to quell back-bench dissent amid fears that Labour will struggle to push through its reform agenda with a greatly reduced majority, it emerged last night.

The aftershock of the election night purge of Labour backbenchers triggered calls over the weekend for the Prime Minister to stand down.

But government sources said the rebels would be disappointed if they believed Mr Brown was any less committed to reform than the Prime Minister.

It is understood that Mr Blair and Mr Brown will concentrate over the next few weeks on crushing internal dissent within the parliamentary Labour Party to make sure they can govern effectively, whoever is in 10 Downing Street.

Helpful to have your only serious rival be an ideological soulmate.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 9, 2005 8:34 AM