Gordon Brown plans his strategy after blows

May 12 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

GORDON Brown will this week launch a political fightback following a bruising from Labour colleagues in the North East.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce new measures on schools and health in a bid to win back voters after the opinion polls continued to chart Labour’s unpopularity.

On top of embarrassing criticisms from political memoirs, Mr Brown is facing a battering from North Tyneside MP Stephen Byers who accused the Prime Minister of leading a “distant and uncaring” Labour Party.

The former Transport Secretary writing in a Sunday newspaper called for a “fundamental rethink” of Labour’s taxation policy and is hoping the party will embark on a policy overhaul in order to prevent a Conservative victory in a General Election.

And to add to the bad news, Sunderland MP Chris Mullin has announced he will not be contesting his seat in the next General Election.

The MP, who has represented Sunderland South since 1987, said he no longer felt he could offer a useful contribution.

He said: “After careful thought, I have reluctantly concluded that my useful life in parliament is over. I will not, therefore, be a candidate at the next election.” The MP will not be challenging the newly created Sunderland Central seat, a constituency which in the local elections saw 40% of votes go to the Conservatives.

Last night Sunderland Tory leader Lee Martin said: “I think it was all to play for before this but now I wouldn’t be surprised if many in the Labour Party are suddenly realising that this will not be an easy seat for them.

“By some estimates we would need at least 15,000 votes to win this seat, yet in the local election this week we took more than 10,000 votes.

“This is definitely going to be one to watch nationally from now on.”

The Tory optimism comes amid Labour party in-fighting as MPs struggle to decide what they must do to win back support.

Mr Byers yesterday used a Sunday Times opinion column to launch his damning attack on the Prime Minister following a wave of polls which showed Labour lagging behind the Tories.

At the North Tyneside local elections count earlier this month, in which the Conservatives took the largest share of the votes, Mr Byers told The Journal, that there would need to be a period of reflection in order to assess the damage done to the party.

He admitted at the time that the party’s national policies had cost local Labour candidates their seats in the local elections.

Mr Byers said yesterday Labour could still win the next General Election, but only if it reversed its image as “out of touch” and carried out a radical rethink to tax policies. Mr Byers said: “The next few months will be make or break time for the Prime Minister and his Labour government.”

He added: “In the past year far too many decisions about tax have been taken to try to secure a tactical advantage. This has led to some damaging mistakes.

“Whether in relation to the changes to inheritance tax, capital gains tax, the treatment of non-doms or the abolition of the 10p income tax band, the whole approach has been about political positioning. What has been lacking is a strategic and principled view of how we should change our tax regime.”

Mr Byers called for a halt on the introduction of any proposed tax changes, including the fuel duty increase planned for this autumn.