Brown humiliation goes global.

This was

in Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror:

Gordon Brown suffers humiliating defeat

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown lost a vote in the Parliament his party controls, over his decision to deny a brigade of Nepalese soldiers residency rights, adding to a week of setbacks. This is the first time a British Prime Minister has lost an opposition day debate in the Commons in 30 years.

The 267 to 246 vote, which is not binding on the government, concerns Gurkhas, British Army veterans who have been fighting for the right to come to Britain. Brown said the right of automatic residence should be restricted to those who quit the service after 1997.

The vote late yesterday came after the prime minister was forced to back down over reform of the system of lawmakers’ expenses, scrap plans for a government database tracking electronic communications and scale back plans to build bigger jails. It underscored Brown’s declining popularity as the recession deepens ahead of a vote he must call by June.

“It is not just that Brown has lost control of the party,” said Mark Wickham-Jones, professor of politics at Bristol University. “It’s that individual members of Parliament are starting to be more assertive in the run-up to the election when they have their own constituencies to consider.”

Brown has a majority of 63, meaning he should be able to win any vote if he maintains party discipline. Yesterday, 27 lawmakers from his Labour Party joined opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in voting for a motion backing the rights of Gurkhas who retired before 1997.

This government is an embarassment. Just go Gordon.

Hat-Tip: TB's good buddy in Sri Lanka Muheed Jeeran.