Labour look doomed as more expenses claims are revealed

Things are not looking good for Gordon Brown.

First he posted a bizarre Youtube video about reforming expenses, where his strange "smile" sparked ridicule (even from his own party). Then his plans were watered down in Parliament, and then he lost a vote on Gurkhas rights to live in the UK.

But it did not end there. This morning the Daily Telegraph published further details about Labour MPs' expenses, including embarrassing information about Gordon Brown himself.

According to the paper, the Prime Minister paid his bother Andrew Brown, a senior executive at EDF Energy, £6,577 over 26 months, for cleaning services at his Westminster flat. Not only this but Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary was said to have over-claimed for council tax and mortgage bills.

Bad impression

To date, there are now thirteen members of the cabinet whose expenses claims are under investigation, so not exactly confidence inspiring then? The real problem though, is the impression this gives. The public are unlikely to have confidence in a government that can not even keep their own affairs in order.

It is too cynical to say that all politicians are greedy, thieving and dishonest, because this is simply not true. However, what is true is that the current system of MPs' expenses is now defunct and must now be cast aside and reformed.

However, Brown's Youtube video was not the way to do this. By not consulting his own party, let alone parliament the Prime Minister made himself look distinctly amateur. One has to ask the question, just who is advising dear old Gordon at the moment? Whoever it is, they are not doing a good job.

Ridicule

Vince Cable said it so aptly some time ago, when he said that Brown had "gone from Stalin to Mr. Bean". The days of the Iron Chancellor are now long gone, and Brown's reputation is now in tatters.

The biggest threat then to Brown is ridicule. Under the media spotlight, Brown does not measure up to modern day standards and appearing on Youtube does his image no favours whatsoever. He has always paled in comparison to Tony Blair, but now even more so.

Change of leader?

Another big problem for the Prime Minister is his own party. Many of them will be feeling nervous about losing their seats at the next election, and as a result a change of leader is probably already being discussed.

There have been rumours of Charles Clarke running against Brown in a leadership contest, but a move to change the leader now would make the Labour party look even more disorganised, and crucially even less electable.

The real winners in all of this are the Conservatives. They have not had to serve up any new policies or ideas to profit from this mess, and in PMQs on Wednesday the Tories did not ask any questions at all about policy.

However, the Tories must be careful not to look too cocky. There is little doubt that they are favourites to win the next election, but they can not act like they think they will win. Similarly on expenses, the Conservatives almost certainly have skeletons in the closet, so playing that card would again be ill-advised. The name Derek Conway springs to mind.

The end is nigh

Gordon Brown may yet make a comeback, but with unemployment rising and the economy still flagging, it is hard to see how he can. Even if his government do have some good ideas between now and the election, they may well be overshadowed by trouble at the top.

The next few months will be very interesting. Will Brown remain as leader? My guess would be yes, but only because there is no real alternative. No MP with serious leadership intentions would want to lead under today's circumstances, and not many people would blame them.

Twelve years is a long time for any government to be in power, and the flame of new Labour now looks to have gone out. Sadly for Brown though, he has been left holding the fire extinguisher.