A Halt to Hostilities?

The BBC is reporting that one of Gordon Brown's leading critics within the party has said that "hostilites are over" and that the party must come together at a time of national crisis. On the face of it this seems to be good news for the beleaguered Prime Minister, but is it really?

With the Glenrothes by-election set for 6 November, there is only one more month before another potentially very damaging defeat to the party that will again test the patience of the dissidents within the party. The nature of truces is that they are easily broken....

But the real winner of any halt to hostilities is David Cameron. There is no doubt that he and his party want to go into the next election with a bruised, battered and deeply unpopular Gordon Brown as an opponent. The longer Brown holds on to the leadership, the harder it becomes for his party to replace him before a general election looms.