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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Brown to rally party on election | Brown to rally party on election |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Gordon Brown will seek to rally Labour MPs by setting out his election strategy and telling them they can defeat the Conservatives. | |
| The prime minister will appear with members of his election team before the Parliamentary Labour Party. | The prime minister will appear with members of his election team before the Parliamentary Labour Party. |
| He will say economic recovery will be the platform for a Labour victory at the general election, expected in May. | |
| Earlier his closest ally, Schools Secretary Ed Balls, denied splits within Labour over strategy. | |
| Former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt wrote to all Labour MPs last week, urging them to hold a secret ballot on Mr Brown's leadership. | Former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt wrote to all Labour MPs last week, urging them to hold a secret ballot on Mr Brown's leadership. |
| 'Incredible contrasts' | |
| And, at the weekend, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned of the toughest spending cuts in 20 years. | And, at the weekend, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned of the toughest spending cuts in 20 years. |
| Mr Balls said was this did not represent a change of emphasis or policy following the failure of the Hoon-Hewitt plot. | Mr Balls said was this did not represent a change of emphasis or policy following the failure of the Hoon-Hewitt plot. |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today Mr Darling's comments were in line with last month's pre-Budget report and with speeches Mr Balls and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had made in June. | He told BBC Radio 4's Today Mr Darling's comments were in line with last month's pre-Budget report and with speeches Mr Balls and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had made in June. |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | |
| Mr Balls said the "incredible contrasts" were not between him and Mr Darling but between Labour, which wanted to halve the deficit over four years and protect frontline services, and the Conservatives. | Mr Balls said the "incredible contrasts" were not between him and Mr Darling but between Labour, which wanted to halve the deficit over four years and protect frontline services, and the Conservatives. |
| Mr Brown will attempt to boost morale after a turbulent week by saying of the Tories: "We can beat them. We must beat them. And we will beat them." | Mr Brown will attempt to boost morale after a turbulent week by saying of the Tories: "We can beat them. We must beat them. And we will beat them." |
| Downing Street aides say Mr Brown will argue that the election will not be a choice between change and the status quo, but between the right kind of change and the wrong kind of change. | |
| 'Aspiration' | 'Aspiration' |
| He will say that Labour will fight on its record but that record in itself is not enough. | |
| He will be joined by Douglas Alexander as election coordinator, Lord Mandelson as chair of election strategy, and Harriet Harman as the director of the party's day-to-day campaigning. | He will be joined by Douglas Alexander as election coordinator, Lord Mandelson as chair of election strategy, and Harriet Harman as the director of the party's day-to-day campaigning. |
| BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti said the joint appearance seemed calculated to rebuff criticisms that - during the attempt to unseat him - cabinet ministers were said to be unsure about their roles in the election campaign. | BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti said the joint appearance seemed calculated to rebuff criticisms that - during the attempt to unseat him - cabinet ministers were said to be unsure about their roles in the election campaign. |
| Other criticisms had included fears Mr Brown was reverting to a strategy of relying on Labour's core vote, rather than engage swing voters. | Other criticisms had included fears Mr Brown was reverting to a strategy of relying on Labour's core vote, rather than engage swing voters. |
| All of this stems from the same thing: politicians having to rewrite their pledges in response to the fact that there is very little money around for them to spend Nick Robinson BBC's political editor Read Nick's thoughts in full See more commentators' predictions in the See Also blog | All of this stems from the same thing: politicians having to rewrite their pledges in response to the fact that there is very little money around for them to spend Nick Robinson BBC's political editor Read Nick's thoughts in full See more commentators' predictions in the See Also blog |
| Tony Blair's former communications chief in Downing Street, David Hill, told BBC Two's Daily Politics the events of last week had "forced the leadership to get their act together". | Tony Blair's former communications chief in Downing Street, David Hill, told BBC Two's Daily Politics the events of last week had "forced the leadership to get their act together". |
| The meeting will follow the launch by Mr Brown and Mr Balls of a scheme to put laptops and broadband in the homes of 270,000 low-income families. | The meeting will follow the launch by Mr Brown and Mr Balls of a scheme to put laptops and broadband in the homes of 270,000 low-income families. |
| "Just as today I set out with Ed Balls Labour's aspiration to make every home a broadband home, so too, from now until polling day, will all the cabinet set out Labour's aspirations for a better future for Britain than the Tories could ever promise," Mr Brown will say. | "Just as today I set out with Ed Balls Labour's aspiration to make every home a broadband home, so too, from now until polling day, will all the cabinet set out Labour's aspirations for a better future for Britain than the Tories could ever promise," Mr Brown will say. |
| "We cannot and will not fight the election on small ideas but on big ideas. And so we will contrast Labour, the party of aspiration, with the Tories, the party whose only pledge to the mainstream majority is one of austerity." | "We cannot and will not fight the election on small ideas but on big ideas. And so we will contrast Labour, the party of aspiration, with the Tories, the party whose only pledge to the mainstream majority is one of austerity." |
| Foreign Secretary David Miliband, one of the cabinet members who was accused of giving Mr Brown a belated and lukewarm endorsement after the attempt to unseat him, told BBC Radio 4's World at One it was essential that Labour "leads the country forward". | |
| He added: "I have worked with Gordon since the early 1990s - nearly 20 years. He has enormous strengths and very, very strong beliefs and real determination to do what is right for people. | He added: "I have worked with Gordon since the early 1990s - nearly 20 years. He has enormous strengths and very, very strong beliefs and real determination to do what is right for people. |
| "He has the ability to think in radical ways in some of the most difficult and pressurised situations." | "He has the ability to think in radical ways in some of the most difficult and pressurised situations." |
| Asked why he had not originally been more positive about the prime minister, Mr Miliband said he had "been absolutely clear that it was important not to over-react" to the letter. | Asked why he had not originally been more positive about the prime minister, Mr Miliband said he had "been absolutely clear that it was important not to over-react" to the letter. |