Jack Straw won’t tell Brown to quit

Jack Straw has ruled himself out as one of the 'men in grey suits' who will go to Gordon Brown after a Labour meltdown in the June 4 elections and tell him, 'For the good of the Labour Party, go'.

The Mole's snouts in Westminster say this means that the Euro elections have already been written off as a hopeless case by the Labour heirarchy. No matter how bad it gets, Brown has already decided he is not going to go and, despite his position in the opinion polls, he is going to lead Labour into the next election.

This will come as a blow to Straw's Cabinet colleague, Alan Johnson, who has carefully positioned himself to be available for the expected upsurge in demands for Brown to quit after next Thursday's elections. Johnson has made it clear that, despite previous denials, he is ready to run for the leadership if Brown steps down. In a recent Times article, he presented himself as a moderniser in favour of electoral reform.

However, for Johnson to have any chance, Brown would have to volunteer to step down. And Straw's remarks have nailed that option shut. Straw was the only one in the Cabinet with the possible exception of Peter Mandelson who could tell Brown to go in the interests of the party. Former Cabinet allies say: "Mandelson won't do it because he's thrown in his lot with Brown."

Straw told the BBC: "The Prime Minister is not going to be ousted," adding, "He is a very robust and resilient leader, brilliant on the issue of the day, which is how we turn the world economy round and much else besides."

His message was clearly intended for fellow Labour ministers - including Hazel Blears's women friends who are furious at the way Brown singled her out for condemnation over her expenses claims and who may yet try to lead a rebellion against Brown after June 4.

But without Straw's support, the rebels can huff and puff but Brown won't be brought down - unless someone like Johnson, with widespread support in the party, openly challenges him for the leadership.