Skipper

My inbox has just received a Labour Party email on '40 Labour Achievements' but I have sat down to post on the latest dire news affecting the party. Polly Toynbee today reviews some of the latest ICM poll's daunting statistics on public support: Blair now as hated as Thatcher was at her lowest point; only 64 per cent of Labour voters now want their party to win the next election; and only 38 per cent think government policies 'will improve the state of Britain's economy'. And this of a government whose policies, via Gordon Brown, have produced a period of unparalled economic prosperity.

It seems the point has already been reached previously occupied by the Tories only a few months ago when even policies respondents supported were disavowed when it was discovered such policies were those of the Conservatives. Toynbee laments the fact that so much of what the government has achieved is either discounted or frankly disbelieved. The leader column of The Guardian, often seen as the daily biblical text of Labour supporters, seems to conclude Blair must stand down forthwith: 'It is hard to see how its[the party's] morale and political fortunes will impprove significantly while Mr Blair remains leader... The longer Mr Blair remains, therefore, the greater the danger that demoralisation and political alienation will deepen'.