Not a revolution, but..
Well well. It only took until ten past one for the Blair issue to come up - raised by none other than Nick Brown - friend, ally but no relative of Gordon.
"We cannot drift on" he said (watch the interview here), before adding that the party had to listen to people and to avoid looking like an out of touch elite.
When asked whether Tony Blair could repair the problem he replied with a grimace - "he will have to try".
Not the start of a revolution, I grant you - but it was significant that someone who knows that his words are watched carefully spoke out so clearly and so early.
I'm 
Comments
Still, I have to admit - that fracas there was realy quite poor - lost the thread really there. Glad to see the coverage's refocused once more.
To be honest a lot of people I know would like a revolution in westminster.
Not just for the governing majority, but for the whole house.
Sorry Nick, had I realised you were staying up late for someone to call on Blair to go I'd have done it for you at ten past one yesterday afternoon ;-)
true, nick, but he did then at least appear to peddle backwards when pressed again....
Nick, can you please tell David Dimbleby that Chorley's in Lancashire, not Greater Manchester!
hey nick, how much milage is there with the whole letter issue that you raised earlier- is this just wishful thinking by journalists wanting another story pointing to blairs weakening position?
Is John Reid looking at the same poll as me?
'Nearly 50% of people want Tony Blair to stay on till the next election'
Maybe but 50% want him to go by the end of this year and that just increases.
Ah joy, politicians and statistics ;-)
Seemed to me it rattled John Reid who quickly spun Nick Brown’s words on the fly. I noticed that when Nick Brown came back on air here didn’t further clarify his statement, he looked very smug.
It was wonderful to see that kind of reaction from a labour mp (Nick Brown. It has been too long now, a lot of traditional labour supporters have been waiting for 4 years for a labour backbench uprising and it hasn't come.
If it hasn't come in 4 years it doesn't seem like it will ever come, even though it seems they are beccoming increasingly unhappy with Blair over the last few weeks. How many knocks can one PM take?...
Hello
I haven't laughed so much in ages than when David Dimbleby asked Blunkett who was fiddling with his earpiece "Can you hear me?" and Blunkett said "No I can't hear you at all!" - classic! Look forward to that turning up in It Shouldn't Happen To A Question-Dodging Politico.
Ooooo check Simon H in his short sleeve shirt!
Keep up the good work Nick!
This is an excellent weblog Nick, and reflective of the fantastic coverage on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ programme this evening.
Nick Brown's comments (or lack of comments) were very telling and one can palpably sense the storm clouds gathering around Tony Blair. And not before time either.
John Reid's rebuttal of your assertion that Brown was showing a clear lack of support for Blair was exactly what we've come to expect from this government - if something's not going their way, they blame it on the media (especially the ´óÏó´«Ã½).
Keep pressing the politicians Nick - no-one seems to be able to hold them to account, but it's great to see you having a jolly good try!
The ´óÏó´«Ã½ should have invited Diane Abbott on to the coverage, she's just as rude as John Reid but far more entertaining.
I think you misrepresented Nick Browns remarks there Nick.He made it clear he would not sign that letter asking for Blairs resignation.The Brownites sense that tonights losses are not as bad as they thought and rumoours of a coup may be greatly exaggerated!
I disagree with Iain, Nick Brown made it very clear that 'he hadn't considered it' ... which is very far from saying that he wouldn't sign anything of the sort.
I agree with iain stevenson that you misrepresented Nick Brown's remarks. He may have come dangerously close to calling for Blair's removal, except that he stopped short. When asked to clarify he deftly side-stepped the issue. To be sure this was no Charles Clarke or Patricia Hewitt doling out the Blairite line that Tony must go on and on until he feels he has seen through his reforms. He's clearly no sycophant of Blair, but he seems to have left you clutching at straws because what he said, and he repeated it when pressed, is that action needs to be taken to stop the Labour drift.
I got all excited when i heard Nick Brown talk. You could just feel the knives going in. I am not sure Nick Brown ever got over from being demoted from MAFF after Foot and Mouth. Reid is a politcal master at damage limitation, but i think it didnt work. The programme has just cut off with technical problems, and now i'm stuck with ´óÏó´«Ã½ 24. the mole must be getting despirate to stop all teh talk! Oh, and could we have more details about this letter?