A junior minister escaped censure yesterday despite saying that Gordon Brown’s Government was losing touch with voters’ concerns and risked defeat at the next general election.

Ivan Lewis, a Health Minister with an impeccable record of loyalty, told the News of the World that the Government needed to show people that it was on their side.

He said that voters grew angry “when they feel the Government is losing touch with what fairness means to the majority who work hard, play by the rules and are feeling squeezed by rising bills and rising council tax”.

He called for a string of populist policy measures, including minimum ten-year prison terms for possession of a gun or knife and immediate deportation for illegal immigrants.

His intervention offered an unwelcome reminder of Labour’s troubles for Mr Brown as he prepares to address his MPs tonight with a rallying speech before the local elections.

Under the principle of collective ministerial responsibility, members are usually expected to support the Government in public.

Yet Mr Lewis’s intervention went unchallenged, other than a demurring note from Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, as she gave interviews on counter-terrorism legislation. She told the BBC: “I don’t agree that we are out of touch. I do agree that it is fundamentally important that we listen to what the British people are saying.”

Three of Tony Blair’s speechwriters, Phil Collins, Peter Hyman and David Bradshaw, are among those who have been asked to help Mr Brown to improve his stilted delivery and lack of personality when he speaks. Mr Collins was said to have responded: “Brown doesn’t need a speechwriter: he needs a magician."

Week in Parliament

MONDAY Commons: Questions on Work and Pensions; Housing and Regeneration Bill; Northern Rock plc transfer order. Lords: Climate Change Bill. Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill; Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill.

TUESDAY Commons: Questions on Communities and Local Government; Counter-Terrorism Bill; debates. Lords: European Union (Amendment) Bill.

WEDNESDAY Commons: Welsh questions; Prime Minister’s Questions; debates. Lords: Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.

THURSDAY Commons: questions on Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; debates. Lords: report on Law Commission Bills.

FRIDAY Commons and Lords not sitting

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