Brown election reaction
West Midlands MPs today gave a mixed reaction to Gordon Brown's election U-turn as the Commons returned to Parliament after the summer break.
West Midlands MPs today gave a mixed reaction to Gordon Brown's election U-turn as the Commons returned to Parliament after the summer break.
While some Labour MPs returned angry and baffled by the events of the last week which have dealt a severe blow to the party's standing – both in the opinion polls and in terms of morale within the ranks – others remained optimistic and warned opposition parties to "underestimate Gordon Brown at their peril".
But that did not stop opposition MPs grasping the opportunity to attack the Prime Minister, slamming his retreat as a sign of "weakness".
David Winnick, MP for Walsall North, said: "Some pretty senior young individuals in and around the Cabinet should share the responsibility for talking up an election and referring publicly on the radio to where the risk lies." He added that he had not heard any Labour people saying they wanted an election and that they simply could not understand why one was being considered after only two years in office. He said: "In 1970, when an election was called, even then Wilson was told it was too early and he had been in government for four years."
Minister and MP for Wolverhampton South East Pat McFadden said: "I think it is probably the right decision.
"Obviously there will be some criticism of the last few weeks but I don't think anyone should underestimate Gordon Brown. I think he will press on very strongly with a good agenda, and I think that the opposition underestimate Gordon Brown at their peril."
Tory MP Michael Fabricant said: "As far as I know, neither the Labour Party nor the Liberal Democrats had selected parliamentary candidates to stand against me in Lichfield. Nevertheless, Lichfield Conservatives were ready for that challenge, and I am sad that we may now have to face two more years of a dying Labour Government.
"After all the hype promoted by Cabinet ministers under orders from Gordon Brown about there being an autumn election, this reversal is one of the most astonishing displays of indecision and weakness I have ever seen from a British prime minister.
"Tony Blair must be thinking how right he was not to have given in to Gordon all those years back when they first discussed who would lead the Labour Party," he added. Senior Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack, the party's former constitutional affairs spokesman, said: "While I personally would have relished fighting an election, to call one would have been a constitutional outrage in view of the fact that there is no need for the Prime Minister to cut and run."
The Staffordshire South MP added: "Had he done so, I think he would have met the same fate as Edward Heath, in not entirely dissimilar circumstances, met in 1974."
In that year, Mr Heath fought an election on a "who governs Britain?" challenge, ended up in a minority, and failed to get the Liberals on board to help him form a coalition government, with the result that Harold Wilson and Labour returned to power.
