As Brown holidays in Southwold, possibly sunk in despondency over his record-breaking unpopularity, he should realise there is a sense of natural justice about the mess he is in. After all, he has effectively been in charge of Labour’s domestic policy since 1997 so he is now paying the price for 11 years of misrule. 

He was supposed to be the economic genius, the man who, in his own tiresome boast, had ended “boom and bust”. Yet now after years of spendthrift waste by Brown’s Government the country is hurtling towards recession.

It was also Brown who blocked reform of our public services, vastly expanded the welfare state, refused to build enough prison places, destroyed the private pensions system and promoted mass immigration while leaving
millions of Britons on the economic scrapheap. 

Brown cannot appeal to party unity or loyalty, having himself spent almost a decade trying to bring down Tony Blair. Through his neurotic ambition he constantly undermined the democratically elected Prime Minister of the day and permanently poisoned the atmosphere within the Government. So he cannot now complain when his own cherished weapons of political intrigue and conspiracy are turned against him.

His supporters have tried to deflect the increasing criticisms by emphasising his supposed qualities. They say that, while he might be struggling on the domestic front, he is proving to be a highly respected international statesman.

Another argument is that Brown’s only real problem is his lack of charisma. Behind the poor presentation, we are told, is a figure of real substance. Then they claim that, for all his errors, he is politician of unique integrity and decency. 

This is all nonsense. Brown might blather about his so-called “moral compass” but, in reality, he is an utter charlatan, a cynical, deceitful, cowardly bully who can never give a straight answer and treats the public as fools.

Throughout his premiership he has repeatedly sought to mislead the public through hollow propaganda or the manipulation of statistics, whether it be on immigration, poverty or crime. His disdain for morality was symbolised by his refusal to keep his pledge to hold a referendum on the European Treaty.
    
The idea that he is a colossus of foreign affairs is a joke. His overseas policy seems to entirely comprise surrender to the EU, the exploitation of British soldiers in Iraq for political ends and the use of vast sums of taxpayers’ money to prop up failing African regimes under the guise of combating global poverty.  
   
The public does recognise that Brown has substance – but it is substance of a truly repellent kind. The PM is a classic socialist control freak with a sub-Marxist impulse to interfere in our lives, dressing up his authoritarianism with language about fighting for equality, public safety or anti-discrimination.   .

Labour MPs know that they cannot win under the wretched Brown. But for all the excitable talk of an imminent challenge to his leadership he will be difficult to depose. Throughout its history the Labour Party has never once kicked out an incumbent leader against his will, not even during the dark days of Michael Foot in the early Eighties.

As with Brown himself, Labour MPs are pusillanimous, preferring talk to action. But the situation now is so
desperate that they may feel forced to move.

If Brown is toppled in the next few months Justice Secretary Jack Straw is likely to emerge as a caretaker Prime Minister. He has much greater experience than young Turks such as Foreign Secretary David Miliband and is a clever schemer who has already established a powerful base among MPs and the Centre-Left activists. 

If the Labour Party refuses to act against Brown the public will certainly do so at the next election. The country is heartily sick of his woeful leadership.

Nearly two years more of the same will spell oblivion for Labour.