C4 film suggests Brown is off his prime ministerial trolley

Gloom has deepened in the Broon camp over tonight's showing of the Andrew Rawnsley opus on Channel 4's Dispatches - Gordon Brown: Where did it all go wrong? Trailers for the programme have suggested that Brown was so angry when he heard about the missing Revenue and Customs discs that he kicked a desk. There are also rumours he has been throwing phones about when he gets angry, and that he has insulted a group of secretaries - the garden girls - who work at Number Ten.

The subtext of this sort of report is that Brown is not up the job psychologically and may be cracking up. The Brown camp have furiously denied any such thing, but it is bound to trigger a new round of questions about whether he's going slightly off his prime ministerial trolley.

The bulk of the Rawnsley programme is even more depressing for Brown. It focuses on the 'on-off' general election last autumn. Those who were in the 'let's go for it' brigade such as Ed Balls seem to be keeping their heads down. Others - some with the benefit of hindsight - are going public, saying they were always against an autumn general election. They include Jack Straw, who the Mole knows was genuinely against it, Hazel Blears and Murray Elder, a friend of Brown since childhood. The whole episode reinforced Brown's reputation for dithering.

However, the Brownites now see a silver lining to all this bad news: it might have a sobering effect on those Labour rebels planning to put the boot in this week over 42 days detention without charge for terrorist suspects. Number Ten were dismissing claims this morning that the party whips are going round saying: "If we lose the vote on Wednesday, you will have a new Prime Minister on Thursday." No wonder - if they said that, perhaps more would vote against the Government on 42 days.

Brown has pencilled in Thursday for his monthly press conference but Number Ten are being coy about whether it's on or not. It will depend on how he is feeling after the Commons vote the night before on 42 days. Judging by the Rawnsley programme, they should protect the furniture.

THE MOLE: PM UNDER PRESSURE

FIRST POSTED JUNE 9, 2008