Gordon Brown's Upcoming Speech

"Ladies and gentlemen, over the last few days, you have heard speculation about a leadership challenge. What is missing from this speculation is consideration for democracy or the British people. Before the 2005 election, Tony Blair promised that he would not serve a full third term. Fulfilling this promise, I took over the leadership in 2007.

"There was, of course, a process in the Labour party for selecting a new leader. Because of this, Tony could promise to step down, but he couldn't make any promise to the British people about who the new leader might be. I think it would be fair to say, though, that most people expected it to be me. The public was not short-changed; they got Tony followed by me, as they expected.

"If my party wants a second change of leader then I will of course step down—but this would not be something the public could have anticipated when deciding who to vote for in 2005. Fairness would therefore demand that we call an immediate general election. To avoid cheating the British people, if the decision is taken to replace me, then on my last day in office I will ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament. Alternatively, people wanting to replace me could simply organise a confidence vote in the House of Commons. If this vote was lost, an election would automatically follow, so the effect would be the same."

So what do you think, Gordon? No one in the Labour party wants a general election at the moment, so this should buy you another couple of years. My agent will be in touch with the price...

(Sorry about the lack of posts at the moment, by the way, I'm horribly busy.)