Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt's initiative is yet another example why this Labour government has become a farce. If Labour MPs cannot decide whether or not they have confidence in their party's leader, why on earth do they think the British people can be expected to have confidence in their leadership.
Questions about Gordon Brown's leadership are not new. Doubts were expressed even before he became Prime Minister. Tom Bower's excellent biography provided fascinating insights into the character of Gordon Brown. Charles Clarke has been a repeated critic, and Frank Field has raised concerns about Gordon Brown, describing him as showing "tempers of an indescribable nature". If Labour MPs wanted to do something about their leader, they should have done so earlier.
To contemplate changing leaders, or even propose debating the question, within less than four months of a General Election is pure self-indulgence. Even if they did get rid of Gordon Brown, whatever process they used, a new leader - a new unelected Prime Minister - would have little more than three months to make his or her mark, and that's only if MPs' wield the knife within days from now. More importantly, however, for Labour to think that this will wash with the electorate is the epitome of arrogance. To change Prime Minister once without the British people having a say is bad enough; to dump a Prime Minister just weeks before the British people have a chance to pass judgment on him is insane.
All this is further evidence of a shambolic, shabby, sordid, tawdry, dysfunctional, arrogant, inward-looking, exhausted government that is long past its sell-by-date, and further reason why the General Election cannot come soon enough. Let the British people have their verdict on Gordon Brown, not Labour MPs clinging to their seats in desperation. And let's have a government that gets on which the business of government, addressing the major challenges of our time - the economy, education, the NHS, climate change, international poverty, radical Islamism, security - and a government that engages in a conversation with the British people - instead of talking to itself and indulging in petty internal squabbles.