Brown personally dragged further into expenses mess...

The Telegraph

keeps the pressure on our friend from the north for Saturday:

"A detailed analysis of Mr Brown's expense claims also reveals that the Prime Minister claimed £30 on his office expenses for the cost of hiring a bagpiper to play at a ceremony for veterans.

...

Mr Brown flipped the designation of his second home from London to Scotland 10 days after Tony Blair announced he would be stepping down.
It meant he was able to carry on claiming a second home allowance after he moved into Downing Street."

Insert tight Scot joke here.

Has it come to this?

This is Lord Toby Jug.

On Thursday

he beat

the Labour candidate in St Ives.

"It is a Loony landslide. Democratic Loonyism has arrived in St Ives," he said despite not winning.

Glorious.

Glory Glory Tory Party

What a day. The map says it all. Britain is sick to the back teeth of this broken and bankrupt government and has spoken. They don't want Labour and they don't want the Lib Dems (except in Bristol, but they are all a bit odd there.) Just when it looked like Gordon was going to get away with it, another resignation throws the whole thing into turmoil once again. He may have bought a stay of execution, but, the noose is very much around his neck still. The euro results on Sunday night could make Monday evening's meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party one heck of a blood bath.

Thank you to the thousands of you who have popped by in the last few days and the hundreds who have taken part in the live chats. TB will be taking part in the Conservative Future election night coverage, so do come along to that! (See ad below.)

What a great day for the Conservative Party - we have wiped out Labour in the counties. The top two stories on the BBC website are calling for Brown to go and reporting the stunning electoral success of the Conservatives. Many a Tory have waited many years to see such an image. A special congratulations to Conservative Future Student Life big wig Paul "Bells" Wells, a long time friend of the bear and drinking legend who took the Tories from third place to win his ward and become the first Conservative councillor in Norwich South in nearly a generation.

On that note TB feels it would only be appropriate on an evening such as this to get hooned, for want of a better phrase.

From the Number10 website:

The Queen is pleased to approve the following Ministerial appointments:

List

The Queen has accepted the following resignations:

Cabinet resignations

The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP
The Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP
The Rt Hon John Hutton MP
The Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP
The Rt Hon James Purnell MP
The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP

Other resignations

The Rt Hon Tony McNulty MP
The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP
The Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP

There is only one resignation that the Queen should be happy to see.

Flint sticks the knife in...

For some reason that quote from The Matrix came to mind:

"Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?"

Hat-Tip:

@chickenyog

for the pic.

The letter:

Dear Gordon

I believe the achievements of the Labour Government to date have been monumental and you have played an immense part in the creation of those achievements.
However, I am extremely disappointed at your failure to have an inclusive Government.
You have a two tier Government. Your inner circle and then the remainder of Cabinet.
I have the greatest respect for the women who have served as full members of Cabinet and for those who attend as and when required.
However, few are allowed into your inner circle.
Several of the women attending Cabinet – myself included – have been treated by you as little more than female window dressing.
I am not willing to attend Cabinet in a peripheral capacity any longer.
In my current role, you advised that I would attend Cabinet when Europe was on the agenda. I have only been invited once since October and not to a single political Cabinet – not even the one held a few weeks before the European elections.
Having worked hard during this campaign, I would not have been party to any plan to undermine you or the Labour Party in the run up to 4 June.
So I was extremely angry and disappointed to see newspapers briefed with invented stories of my involvement in a "Pugin Room plot".
Time and time again I have stepped before the cameras to sincerely defend your reputation in the interests of the Labour Party and the Government as a whole. I am a natural party loyalist. Yet you have strained every sinew of that loyalty.
It has been apparent for some time that you do not see me playing a more influential role in the Government. Therefore, I have respectfully declined your offer to continue in the Government as Minister for Europe attending Cabinet.
I served six years as a backbencher and, therefore, I am not unhappy to be able to devote myself to promoting my constituency's interests and to support the Labour Government from the backbenches.
This is a personal decision, which I have not discussed with colleagues.
Yours
Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP

Lady Kinnock...

Not the first time that Glnys has come to the aid of a fallen Labour leader:



Gingers Alliance will be pleased that Blears has been replaced with another token redhead in the Cabinet.

This is just embarrassing. Glenys bloody Kinnock. What a joke.

Brown Press Conference Live Chat - 16:30

Another scumbag bites the dust.

The full text of Tom Watson's resignation

is now out

and something about it just doesn't ring true...

TB has got that feeling that there is something more to this story that we are yet to find out. Watson praises Gordon no end and then bows out because; "I feel that the time has come, at the reshuffle, for me to return to the backbenches and to my constituency. The pressure on my young family has been painful and I do not want to ask them to endure it any longer."

So the classic family pressure line huh? OK granted that Watson will have a bit of struggle to defend his seat, especially after her was name checked in the McBride/Draper emails, but, could there be something else that is yet to come out that would potentially damage Watson and Brown were he to remain a high profile government figure and thus a target?

Could who knew about, or even registered, the Red-Rag website have something to do with this?

TB on the radio...

In case you missed it you can listen again to Tory Bear on

Iain Dale's radio show

this afternoon. Apologies for the sound quality but it was a bit of a last minute recording attempt.



First stop talk radio, next the world.

The most compelling need for an election yet...

George Osborne is doing the TV rounds and raises an excellent point:

“The real story of today, as well as the election result, is the meltdown and chaos in the Labour government. "

He also said

Labour are acting in a “self indulgent” manner, “putting the Labour party’s interests ahead of the country interests”.

This echoes nicely with

Ben Brogan's analysis

that;

"The kingmakers have all calculated that Gordon Brown's departure would mean an immediate election which would, in turn, destroy the Labour party. It's a crude bit of political maths, but then it's a nasty business, politics."

Wonder if there is a certain lady in central London watching the news and wondering if she can do something about this? Labour are in it for themselves and by far the most compelling evidence yet that they have lost the moral authority to lead the country.

Just go.

UKIP let the mask slip.

UKIP seemed to basically manage to hold their "we're not a bunch of hoons" image together throughout their election campaign, but now the polls have shut things are quick to fall apart:Not just a token actavist or youth member, that is from the Facebook page from UKIP's former Director of Communications and Westminster candidate in 2001, 2005 and no doubt at the next election.

Charming.

Via 

Scary Mary

 

Reshuffle? What Reshuffle?

This was meant to be Gordon stamping his authority back on his Government and Westminster. Balls was up, Darling out, Miliband sideways etc.

And what has happened? No long knifes, mere plastic ones - absolutely sweet FA. It's over. He couldn't move anyone without them quitting. Darling stays, Straw stays, Miliband stays and errr so it is 'LordAlan' now is it?

What was that about quote about ending the era of celebrity?

"Those who say we are in a time when there are no heroes...

...they just don't know where to look."



Five years ago today the world lost one of its finest conservative voices.

History will judge Reagan far kinder than the current undeserving occupier of the White House. There are few out there who will ever define conservatism and the role of the state in such an articulate and down to earth manner.

Somewhere out there, TB prays there is another Ronald Reagan.

So who are the other plotters?

Perfect time to rehash one of those fantastic photoshop efforts that were knocked up by

Plato

in the wake of Purnell's little photo faking incident a few years back. Last night the red tory lit the touch paper that could see Brown out on his arse by Monday morning.

Very interesting to note the radio silence last night from; Johnson, Balls, Harman, Mandelson, Cruddas, Ed Miliband etc. What are this lot up to?

It's going to be a brilliant weekend.

Shock: Radio's Iain Dale forgets the medium...

Once upon a time

Iain Dale

was a prominent TV pundit, however tonight it seems that he has got a little too used to his new found career as the eminent opinionated talk radio guru. He actually turned up to talk on the BBC in his PJs, dressed for radio it seems:

What has he done with that wonderful collection of Duchamp ties?

+++PURNELL QUITS+++

Here.

LIVE CHAT - Going in For the Kill Edition

Welcome to TB's ten pm gossip and Question Time live chat.

Cometh the hour...

Things are quiet, too quiet. There is TV and radio silence due to our archaic election laws.

Ten o'clock is rapidly approaching...

Who will be the first to break cover?

Feel free to distribute the graphic. TB is playing on photoshop while waiting for his degree result to come through. Grrh.

Messing about on the river...

"The water was very refreshing and I thoroughly recommend it"

Reshuffle headaches...

So Ali and little Davie won't budge off the swings, but Mandy and wee Eddie want a go. This could turn out to be quite a headache for the teacher...

There is a real pickle here for Gordon. Darling is screwed on expenses and could make a nice scapegoat for the recent problems. Brown and Balls apparently used to stay up late at night talking about when Gordon was PM and Balls his loyal neighbour at No11, but Gordon must realise how unpopular his blinking chum really is. He is hated not just in the PLP, but the wider public too. To try put him in the Treasury would send even more Labour backbenchers and other Cabinet members to the rebellion.

Another problem is Darling knows where the bodies are buried. He has been up close and personal with Brown for the last two years, he's seen the blood and the tears and a couple of articles and speeches from him would bring the whole house of cards crashing down. He was putting out thinly veiled threats last night through "friends" that suggested it would be the Treasury or nothing for him. Balls is a loyal puppet, but how would he take being hacked down at the knees by Gordon, destroying his last ever chance of fulfilling his life's dream of becoming Chancellor?

So Darling has to go somewhere and will refuse any job but Chancellor. He could be pretty dangerous on the backbenches and Gordo must know this.

Over at the Foreign Office another headache is brewing. Miliband said the other day that he wanted at least another four years as Foreign Secretary (someone should really break it to him gently!) Reports again last night suggested that he too would refuse to go elsewhere in the Cabinet. Crick confirmed on Newsnight that Mandy had been witnessed openly discussing his desire to get his foot across the FCO threshold and this is where it gets complicated. Gordon may yet regret bring Mandy back from Brussels. He is by far the most sophisticated spinner and operator Labour has left and essentially has Gordon by the short and curlies. As one of the original gang of four he still has a lot of power over the New Labour machine. A public loss of confidence from Mandy would spell the end for Brown pretty much instantly. Miliband is also a leadership contender, and one that Gordon would loath to see succeed him, but like Darling he is a problem to upset. Miliband, despite his botched attempt at a coup last year and his loss of dignity through all things banana related since then, still has friends and the media would go to another level were he to do the dirty.

So it's a real tough one for Gordon. Who is the most dangerous to upset? TB's gut instinct says that Darling will play a key role in the axing of Gordon, they were once close friends and it would add to the increasing drama and Shakespearean feel to the whole saga. Brown would be a fool to force Mandy's hand. Mandy has his heart set on the FCO and TB is fairly sure Mandy gets what Mandy wants. If he was serious about refusing other jobs then Miliband is clearly heading for the backbenches. Could he not be convinced to go to the Home Office?

At this rate it will be amazing if Gordon is even able to get to a reshuffle. The plates are moving fast, but if it does go ahead, for what it's worth, here are TBs predictions:

No11: Balls
FCO: Mandy
Home: Woodward

Carslberg don't do Labour reshuffles, but if they did...