Blair Dealing With Mutiny

Tony Blair is facing down what appears to be a coordinated political attack against him organized and driven from certain members of his own party. The British PM met today in what appears to have been a pretty harsh private meeting with Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Blair demanded that Brown disavow the 100 or so Labor MPs who are in open revolt. Blair may move his departure date up as a result of the meeting.

On a day of near-meltdown in the Blair administration, which saw seven members of the Government resign, the Prime Minister refused to be bundled out of office by what his allies described as the "aggression" of the Brown camp.

Following a meeting at No 10 between the two men, which was described by sources as "hostile" and "appalling", Mr Blair's allies demanded that the Chancellor make clear in public that he had nothing to do with efforts in recent days by MPs and ministers to oust the Prime Minister.

Loyalists indicated that Mr Blair was challenging Mr Brown to try to "seize the crown", or back off and agree a smooth transition.

The Prime Minister will offer some concessions to the Chancellor today by publicly agreeing to bring forward his resignation date from late to early spring next year. His offer will be part of a deal in which the Chancellor condemns those lobbying for the Prime Minister's immediate removal.

A close ally of Mr Blair said last night that he was convinced the Brownites were coordinating moves to oust him. "The Prime Minister's view is that he is not the aggressor in this. It is therefore not up to him to clear it up," the ally said.

Another Blairite said: "The loyalties of these MPs who want the Prime Minister out are clear."

Supporters of the Chancellor insisted that the men's talks at No 10, which broke up at about 3.30pm, had been constructive.

A beaming Mr Brown was seen leaving in his ministerial car.

The British parliamentary system has always seemed a bit odd to me, having been brought up in the American democratic republic system - as modified by the two party system, of course. The US system is much less dependant on the power of individual ministers of course. I'm sorry to see Blair under this kind of internal revolt, though.

UPDATE: Interesting contrast in the Guardian's take on the same series of events, I think. Of course, the Guardian has long been rather hard on Blair, so it is really no surprise.

UPDATE: The BBC reports Blair has announced that he will leave office "within the year". It sounds as if maybe Gordon Brown lost the shouting match.