unicornnews: Labour MP criticises No10 briefings

A Labour backbencher has criticised the Downing Street media operation which, he says, falsely informed the press that he was part of a plot by Labour MPs to oust Gordon Brown as party leader and Prime Minister.

Newcastle-Under-Lyme MP Paul Farrelly denies having any involvement in a campaign being run by some Labour backbenchers to force a change of leadership in their party before the next General Election, but claims that the media machine at Number 10 told journalists he was leading efforts to replace the leader. It’s also alleged Labour’s Chief Whip Nick Brown pesonally accused Farrelly of a key role.

The MP says that the allegations were made simply because he hadn’t managed to personally speak to the Whip or the PM himself to confirm his support.

He argues that the fact he was subsequently briefed against by Brown aides means nothing has been learned at Number 10 from the fallout of the Damian McBride affair, when the Brown advisor was caught planning online smear campaigns against opposition politicians. According to Farrelly, Downing Street still operates a policy of briefing against any politician who may oppose Brown’s leadership

According to PR Week, Farrelly told the BBC: “I was furious… it raises some serious questions about Gordon’s style of politics. The Chief Whip hadn’t spoken to me. Gordon Brown was calling around backbenchers on Wednesday afternoon [but] I was out travelling and campaigning. I called Downing Street twice but didn’t manage to speak to the Prime Minister. [As a result] they decided to sanction feeding my name to the media as the ringleader of a coup. It was reminiscent of last year [when] names [were] fed to sympathetic journalists before conference… It’s as if Damian McBride and his emails never happened”.

Although not part of any backbench rebellion, Farrelly has now thrown his support behind Alan Johnson as a new party leader and Prime Minister though, of course, the new Home Secretary remains loyal to Gordon Brown for the time being.

Posted Friday June 5 2009 by Chris Cooke

Related categories: Political Communications