Brown's Premiership Impaled

Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers in the British army, are defeating another oppenent.  This time it is the government of Gordon Brown.  Gurkhas have been fighting to be able to settle permanently in the UK.  The Liberal Democrats introduced a proposal in Parliament to allow the Gurkhas to settle in the UK but Brown opposed the measure saying it would be too expensive.  The bill was passed, and the government lost, by a vote of 267-241.  27 Labour MPs voted for the measure and numerous other abstained(The Commons does not record abstentions).  For the first time in memory a government lost on a bill proposed by an opposition party.  Now, just today actress and Gurkha activist Joanna Lumley extracted more concessions for the Gurkhas from Home Offiice minister Phil Woolas on live TV.

Choosing to fight against a popular measure that for many is a matter of fairness and then losing is not usually smart politics.  With ministers saying that there is "no political fix" between the government and rebel Labour MPs over the privatizing Royal Mail and with Gordan Brown's name being mentioned in the scandal over MP's expenses there is a lot of talk about replacing Brown.  

Why anybody would want to lead the Labour government is beyond me.  Labour is split among its many factions, it is presiding over a troubled economy, and it is headed for a massive electoral defeat in year.  All a new Labour leader will end up doing is handing the keys of No. 10 over to David Cameron and being replaced in the post general election blood letting.