Clarke tells Brown to 'stand down with honour'

Gordon Brown's leadership was called into further question today when former Home Secretary Charles Clarke warned he had just months to prove himself or he would have to "stand down with honour".

Mr Clarke had already re-ignited the prospects of a leadership challenge when he warned the Labour Party would not allow the Premier to lead them to "utter destruction" at the next election.

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In an article for the New Statesman magazine, published today, Mr Clarke said there was a "deep and widely shared concern" within the party that the Government was currently heading for disaster.

But in an interview with the BBC, the former Cabinet minister warned the Premier he would have to improve or "stand down as Prime Minister with honour and have a proper leadership election".

Mr Brown had been a "brilliant Chancellor" but had not established his political authority.

It was "entirely possible" for him to "turn it around" but if he failed to do this and then did not then resign the Cabinet would have to decide on a course of action.

But he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that at present there was no "clarity" about how to address the "deep concerns" within the party.

He said: "What I believe is there are two essential possibilities, both of which are perfectly honourable.

"The first is for the performance of the Government to improve significantly ... or the second is for Gordon Brown to stand down as Prime Minister with honour and have a proper leadership election to address the proper issues.

"Both of those are perfectly reputable courses of action."

Asked how long Mr Brown had left, he said: "I think it is a question of months really.

"It is a question of seeing how it works forward and whether he can deal with the situation.

"I am personally a sceptic ... but I also believe it is entirely possible that he could turn it around.

"What many people will be wanting to see very soon is clarity about how he is actually doing that."

Mr Clarke attacked as "disreputable" Labour MPs who believed the party was heading for defeat but did not believe there was anything they could do about it.

This "fatalism" was "very damaging indeed", he added.

Asked what should happen if Mr Brown failed to provide clarity and then failed to resign, Mr Clarke said: "The best for the country would be if Gordon made his own mind up, that is after all what a whole string of national and party leaders have done in past decades - decided that there came a point where it was better for them to go with honour and I think that would be far and away the best.

"In the event that didn't happen, then I think it would be down principally to the Cabinet to decide how to proceed and what to do and to do that in an expeditious way."

But he said there was no mood in the Cabinet at the moment to do this.

"Many in the Cabinet share the view we are in great difficulty and are doubtful about our capacity of how to get out of it. There isn't a view ... that they should go and speak to Gordon in the way I have been describing."

Mr Clarke said he was not prepared to be a "stalking horse" against Mr Brown and he would not advise anyone else to do that because party rules regarding it were "very cumbersome" and would lead to "bitter division".

He added: "It would be much better for the party and the country to come to a view about how the change should take place."

Asked what Mr Brown had to do to improve his standing Mr Clarke said: "He has got to establish his authority and set a very clear leadership direction which makes it clear how he sees the issues will be evolved.

"The question is can he get his government team working as a team? Can he establish an economic programme which is about more than relaunches and odd policy initiatives?

"Can he establish a political direction which is very clear to the country about why Labour is in office and what it is seeking to achieve?"

He called on Mr Brown to establish a "sense of decisiveness and clarity".

Mr Clarke insisted his article represented the views of "many, many, many" people who were concerned about Labour's direction.

The article dismissed reports of a "Blairite plot" by supporters of former prime minister Tony Blair to oust Mr Brown from No 10.

He wrote: "It is inaccurate and misleading to dismiss as some kind of Blairite rump those who fear that Labour's current course will lead to utter destruction at the next general election," he said.

"Similarly, there is no Blairite plot, despite rumours and persistent newspaper reports.