Tories take aim at shaky Alistair Darling

Neither Brown nor Darling are looking forward to Wednesday, says our Westminster insider

Gordon Brown is battening down the hatches for Big Wednesday when he and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, will be in the eye of the storm.

Brown faces Prime Minister's Questions for the first time since Tuesday's Queen's Speech clash with David Cameron, when his hand visibly shook with tension. Darling will then face an onslaught from the Tories on the concluding day of the Queen's Speech debate when MPs discuss the economy.

The Tories are targeting Darling as part of a long-term strategy to destroy Brown's claims to economic competence for Labour. After the Northern Rock debacle, the CGT retreat and the row over 'who was first to think of cuts in inheritance tax', Darling - once rated a 'safe pair of hands' - is looking shaky.

The Tories see it as a sign of further weakness that - as forecast in this column - Brown and Darling have been panicked into

publishing secret Treasury documents to show they were thinking of cutting inheritance tax before the Tories.

As a result, Labour MPs are on a heavy three-line whip for PMQs. Brown and Darling will need maximum support to see off the expected Tory onslaught.

Labour MPs looked glum when Brown bulldozed through his speech on Tuesday, setting out the list of legislation for the coming session. This was mainly down to discontent over the anti-terror legislation. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will meet Labour MPs privately on Monday to try to thrash out a compromise on extending detention without charge to 56 days for terror suspects.

Yet the Labour whips are telling Brown that the troops are overwhelmingly behind him. Which could be why Brown looked on top form, relaxed and smiling, when he spoke at a private party for Harriet Harman, the deputy leader, to celebrate her 25 years at Westminster. It will be rough, but he is confident of survival.