Ed - the ball's in your court.

Or, are you a man of straw?

Leigh Vernier, Riyadh, KSA

With these abolitions of basic civil liberties, including holding without trial for 42 days and the ID card, abolition of Legal Aid (and presumably in turn access to (if not the) Courts themselves), abolition of the High Street Solicitor (in fact any independnet lawyer) and of course last but not least the idea that Prime Ministers no longer have to be elected, I think that it would be most sensible for Prime Minister (Crash Gordon) Brown Unelect to visist Mr. Mugabe. He at the very least needs some advice from an elected leader...

Austin Tassletine, South West, UK

All very true, but don't think the "boys in blue" led by the Windmill Man will be any different. Its too late, the damage has been done, its no use shutting the gate. In every way possible Britain is in deep trouble and life in this country for most of its people is getting worse by the day. This isn't just pessimism, its fact.

phil de Buquet, Newport,

We dont need a change of cabinet, thats just reshuffling chairs of the same boring people with no vision for the country. We need a change of government to one which is on the bBritish peoples' side, not their backs!

Ian, Bristol,

Gordon should give up while he's ahead.

E J Murray, Kerry, Ireland

Gordon Brown was a gift from the gods for the Tory party. They must be praying that he clings to his post until the general election, thus ensuring the demise of the Labour party. I can't wait.

Jane Mashtonty, Leeds,

No wonder his standing is down. Gordon Brown has carried on the worse of Tony Blair. The same policy over Iraq, counter-productive initiatives, lots of moral talk and expedient action etc etc.

We don't expect politicians to be spotless but the contrast between spin and truth is too blatant to stomach.

Philip, London,

Can we please next have a leader who has actually run something before being a politician? Someone who got to the top of something, and made a success of it?

Or are we just forever going to have smooth-talking amateurs who, no matter how intellectually sharp, have no clue about the real world, running things or leadership?

The people get the government they deserve. I'm wondering what on earth we did to deserve Brown, a man we never had a chance to elect.

Matt, London,

Who votes in this YouGov poll anyway? Nobody asks me.

jennifer, london,

Me!

Bernard, Edinburgh, Scotland

Time to go back to Scotland, and shut the door after you.

Richard Price, Kettering, England

Well, well, well, what a difference a year makes! A year ago Gordon Brown was seen as the wise, calm leader who would reverse the mistakes of Tony Blair and make Britain a "respectable" nation again. He was lauded as the great hope - the REAL leader of the country - a person who would stand up to the Americans and keep the economy humming ...
How many years did we have to hear about "when GORDON TAKES OVER ... "

Now many of the same people who could not wait to dump Tony Blair in favour of Gordon Brown are now calling for the PM's head! It's almost funny how quickly people turn on their leader when their fantasies are not realized.

Instead of attacking Gordon Brown, British voters should be looking at the factors that initially persuaded them that he would be a great "clunking fist" and a highly effective leader to avoid the same mistake in future.

Andre, Portland, USA

Out - No Confidence..

Rob, ex Notts UK, Vancouver BC

Rebecca, as you have noticed, the British are discerning and demanding of their political leaders. You lot elected George Bush twice, so forgive us if we do not take any advice from Americans on the subject.

Ian Jones, Reading, Berks

The man is just pathetic... but he is still getting a nice pension built up at our expense

Raymond Thomas Brooke, Leven, England

How can it be only minus 37? Who are voting for the clowns that are closing down our hospitals, schools, A&E's, Police and Fire stations whilst taxing us to death? No-one can replace Brown because they are all useless and devoid of any common sense. We need an election and we need it next week, not in two years time. Or we should march.

Roger, Surrey,

Would any human being alive be satisfactory to you Brits? You wouldn't know what to do with yourselves if you were not eating your politicians alive. Let's face it, you all are not happy until everyone else is not happy. Having said all that I do love you guys. I have to be careful what I say because we have two British gents who married into the family.

Rebecca, Seattle, WA

Is there any chance that we, the people of this fair and green isle, be allowed to vote for our leader?.........

Anybody???....

Hellooo...

Lee, Poole,

I concur with Dave of Wrexham, In my opinion no one should be able to stand for Parliament unless they have earned a living outside politics for at least 5 years. This used to happen when most labour MPs came through the workplace and unions, and most Tory MPs had business backgrounds, I never knew where liberals came from. We do not need ant more promoted from researcher, sorry Dave (Cameron)

KW, Bognor Regis , ENGLAND

Quote from article: ' “We are totally inept,” one minister said.'

Ain't that just the truth. Labour and Tory alike selling the mirage of never-ending house price growth and infinite credit, while really selling this country down the river to the Yanks and the big American corporates, joining a corrupt press in decrying the only institution (the EU) that could save us from becoming a broken, bankrupt island scavenged by the multinationals.

But the gutter press who serve the interest of no Brit will make sure that the Blues or the Reds get to ru(i)n the country again next time around, and their pound of flesh will be the further ruination of the land.

Brown, Blair, Cameron? All just puppets with no power and no spine to use their position to speak out.

Jen, Manchester, UK

I can see it now..
I regard you as a security risk so I'm going to lock you up for 41 days..no charge, no evidence you need to know about, no legal representation and I'm not going to tell you any more than that for everything to do with your case is classified and details of the charge and evidence could interfere with an investigation, aid terrorists and conflict with the security of the realm.

The above scenario is hidden by a smokescreen of disagreement within the Labour Party which seems to be prepared to abandon the principles on which our system of justice is based just to support/remove an unpopular leader.

C.U.JAMES, Glasgow, Scotland

Ed Balls? For Prime Minister? Though it would be hard to imagine ANYONE worse than Brown, Balls is that man. His vandalism of the education system is breathtaking. Put Balls in charge of Labour and they'd be finished for a generation. One reason for hoping he'll get the job then.

JM , London,

John, Kenilworth -- a nice wish to have honest men & women in politics, but the fact is that there is a mere handful in Westminster. We are largely 'served' by self-seeking, brain-challenged lemmings.

And I wish that journalists would stop repeating this mantra of "David Cameron’s Tories ". If they are, we are truly sunk, because he is as vacuous as Blair. The last thing we need is Blair Mk2.

O for a leader with real values & backbone!

Patrick North, Newcastle upon Tyne,

One major problem is that today we have almost no senior politicians, of any party, who have ever done a 'real' job in their life. They leave university (usually), get sucked into a party machine, and so often become just party apparatchiks. Their sole competence is in wheeling and dealing, trying to be always popular, & therefore always taking the shortest of short term views.
There are a few exceptions to this, but we seem to have devised a system for producing incompetent governments, with a lack of any principles (other than achieving or retaining office) or long-term understanding of what their policies - or lack of them - will bring: on food & energy shortages, unsustainable population levels & immigration, crime, terrorism & the spiritual & moral vacuum that is eroding this country. All magnified, of course, by a debilitating political corrrectness that seem to have all the political parties in thrall.

Dave, Wrexham,

I left the U.K in Nov 2005.
Having seen the unaccountability of politics in the U.K with Blair the man who stood in the house of commons pleading to be trusted because he had seen evidence on WMD's that he could not divulge.
When trust is lost so badly, and yet, this clear and unambiguous liar is re-elected as the head of a party that is in capable of moving him aside for his errors. The trust in the party is lost. Considering there was no trust for the previous party in Government pre-1997, you realise that democracy is an illusion to facilitate the real power (money) to exist and operate for its' own benefit.
In the U.K the executive has been lining its own nest, whilst at the same time undermining the capacity of the working class to provide itself the essential basic necessities of life.
I am not a revolutionary by any sense of the word, but, I do get the feeling that there is the need for revolutionary times. Clearly democracy is not providing for the people.

Joe, Geelong, VIC Australia

What do you expect from an unelected Prime Minister.

Robert, Manama, Bahrain

I really can't believe anyone is suprised... Gordon's been the manipulative controller behind the spin doctor of the century.- Tony. Gordon's taxed your pension away and he sneakily took 80 Billion away from your pension funds, he's let the tax thresholds slowly drag behind, he's increased car tax, national insurance, council tax (yes... less from the govt means the councils have to tax you...it;s him again..) and now the 10p rate (did you also notice the increase of NI thresholds again.. another £550 tax p/a from slightly higher earners on top of the 10%...). You're over regulated with civil servants up by over 1 million jobs, camera's everywhere, teachers unable to control the classes, yob's with knives and guns and the reason why we have 2.5 million on sick benefits is because unemployment benefit stops after 6 months- they don' thave a choice but to "be sick"..... so we really have 3 MILLION unemployed... the gloss is coming off, and the terror bill is just another reason..

Phil A, Headley, Hampshire

If allies of Gordon Brown really think that a cabinet reshuffle will change the fortunes of this government , they are deluding themselves.
Brown has lost the trust of the British people and neither what he says or does ,will now make any difference and what he prints in any future manifesto will not be believed. The longer his government is in power more instances of incompetence will be revealed.
Change is now inevitable and long overdue.

David, Hull,

England politicians have sold this once great country down the river.

To the EU
To Arab/Muslim petrodollars.
To the big banks.

The only people left who have been given no say in how this nation is run is actual regular Britons. The same as those who fought and died for Great Britain under Nelson, Wellington, and Churchill. The ones who work and sweat and pay taxes so that the rich can get richer while immigrants flood the country and run out those who were born here and our professional flee to cleaner lands where they still have some liberty to speak their mind without being arrested by the thought police.

It is to weep what England, and London, have become. There is no cure. It is 10 years too late. All politicians, but Labour more than others, are responsible. I hope they rot!

Michelle, jack, toronto

Brown's unpopularity may have reached new depths with the scrapping of the 10p starting tax rate and even, as the headline implies, with the terror laws. These are but additions. The underlying reason as to why he is so widely loathed - and justifiably so - is for being primarily responsible for the creation of the largest asset bubble this country has ever experienced.

He is responsible for the boom and bust he said he would prevent. He is responsible for a whole generation of people being priced out of housing. He is responsible for selling gold at rock bottom prices to buy Euros. He is responsible for pulling the strings at the so-called 'independent' BoE to devalue Sterling to try and correct his mistake, thus he is responsible for the rampant food and fuel inflation we are all suffering.

He must resign for the good of the country. He must go soon. We cannot wait another two years while he destroys our currency, our earnings, our savings, our pensions.

Paul, Coventry,

How cares about the anti -terror laws what about DIESEL AT £1.15 per litre!!!! Are we mad in letting this man treat us so badly, STAND UP AND REVOLT! Make sure the people knocking on your doors during the next few weeks, hear you loud and proud vent your splin about this rip off!

Other then that BLAIR has left this country in a right old mess.

Darren Hopkins, somersham, england

I think its a bit unfair to blame Brown for all the problems we face today. Although a party to the mess we're in, the main culprit Blair has fled the crime scene. We hear today that our Military Commander in Basra has been humiliated by the Iraqi Prime Minister who prefered calling upon the Americans to support his army against Al Sadr. Our soldiers have been ordered to Basra airport out of harms way rather than fight the Iranian backed Shia militants. Does the Labour government believe its OK to go to war on the cheap, then negotiate with the opposition when we our resources run low. This also seem to be the policy Afghanistan and why was there no great fuss about equipment when our sailors and marines were captured by he Iranians.

Steve Charlton, Arbroath, Scotland

You state that >>> The cabinet dispute centres on Brown’s determination to push through legislation extending the maximum period terrorism suspects can be detained without charge to 42 days. Jack Straw, the justice secretary, has told Commons allies that he has reservations about the policy, which critics say will inflame tension among Muslims and lead to miscarriages of justice. <<<

And why exactly would the muslims be inflamed? Do they know something that we don't already? (i.e. where there is smoke there generally is always a fire).But they should take some comfort in the fact you have a compliant legal industry on their side that would spring them in a hurry.

This 42 days business is just a sop to appease the rebelious electorate! If Straw had a brain he would have figured that out for himself.

Peter, Vancouver, Canada

I'm puzzled. You didn't want Blair--so he got the boot.
Now you are not happy with Brown. Any chance we can interest you in Barack Obama---the 2nd Coming for the liberals and secular "progressives". UK had better wake up or you will all be issued prayer rugs in ten years, Trafalgar Sq will sport a minaret in lieu of Admiral Lord Nelson, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will be in The Tower through Traitor's Gate. Parliament is fiddling while London burns. Wake up UK---before it is too late.

Tom Constantine, Massachusetts, USA

The labour party shot themselves in the foot when they placed Brown in the PM's seat after Blair simply because he was a time served sycophant. He was hopeless as the Chancellor and worse as PM. What we need now is a Government who loves and believes in our country

Christopher Stuart, Brighton, UK

“The only thing that will persuade voters he is serious is blood on the No 10 carpet,”

If that's from a Minister then I think that just about sums up how out of touch the Government is. I've only ever voted Tory once and Libdem twice, for tactical purposes to help Labour. I will not vote Labour at the next general election as they need to "get back to basics". A period in opposition might make that happen.

They've ignored the working class - yes we still exist - in order to keep middle class support. My nice new rise in income tax from lower rate to basic rate (thank you), has made me and my colleagues worse off. Benefits? - I didn't have to claim before - why should a Labour government increase my tax burden and make me have to claim them? There's health, overcharging on prepay power, dentistry (lack of) and these instant penalties. Lots to moan about.

Labour deserves oppostion - so they'll realise what they SHOULD have done.

Change Brown?
Mmmm, Deckchairs and Titanic?

Ted, Cheshire,

Fantastic news. When can we have a general election? Gordon knew he was a loser from the start of his leadership. He didn't call an election then. I hope he doesn't wait much longer

Jennifer - you can take part in Yougov polls by signing up on their website.

Mark, The Hague, The Netherlands (formerly UK)

Perhaps someone could explain why detention of terror suspects for 42 days "will inflame tensions among Muslims"?

Tony, Chicago, USA

Denis Healey might not actually have said that he would tax the rich until the pips squeak - but this lot are taxing the poor until the pips squeak. And to think they call themselves "socialists"!

Michael Hamilton, Kelso, Scotland

I had great hopes for Brown whom I thought woud undo much of the stupidy of Blaire, he was meant to be so much and let himself be portrayed as bring for the working people and for an extension of democracy and honest goverment - unlike Blaire. Well, what did we get, a man who is just as bad as Blaire but not as media savy, a man who is going to hurt the poorest in our society and who can't even force the banks to keep mortgages down (people only over extended because of his policies as chancellor). For his place in history he should have went with Blaire now he will be remembered as a terribel Prime Minister who disappointed everyone - I say this as an ex-Labour party member who had high hopes and now will vote most anynone but that party whos policies are now more reactionary than the tories'!

Mark Jones, Cardiff,

Thatcher,Major,Blair,Brown, God help the once proud UK. De- industrialised,de skilled, awash with low paid,unskilled immigrans, The only growth industry for the past 25 years,has been crime,drug use,and the "security" industry.
It's biggest export has been it's youngest,brightest,best educated leaving for other,better,fairer,countries.
When the N sea Oli runs out, who is going to pay the great unwashed to sit still on their sink estates. ?

Geordie, Perth., Australia.

In my opinion what we need are politicians who are sound men and women of good character who will try to do their best to represent and advance the interests of the people without regard for personal ambition. I'm not sure when we last had a prime minister of that quality, perhaps one of the Pitts or Churchill but there are certainly others from both parties that, whilst not having the top job, stand out. Names that come to my mind are Butler, Healey, Benn and Hague. I am sure there are others. However what I think is characteristic of present times is that there are none who put service above ambition. I wish to be represented in Parliament in a way that is not similar to selling cheap soap powder. If the current lot understood that then maybe we would have more regard for Parliament.

John, Kenilworth,

Yip, he's a gonner.

joe, Berwickshire, Scotland

Who votes in this YouGov poll anyway? Nobody asks me.

jennifer, london,

It worries me more that polls have become so dramatic they rate this oaf worse than Neville Chamberlain - who in retrospect couldn't've known about Hitler really, but still. Perspective has been lost.

Michael Laughton, Runcorn, UK

Major, then Blair and now Brown.

What did we do to deserve this?

Idris Francis, Petersfield,

If we remove this unelected Prime Minister can we PLEASE have an election to decide who will be next? It's a little dull to keep having PMs foisted on us in some politburo fashion.

Paul Hughes, Oxford, England

Interesting piece, thanks.
It should prove interesting to see what protesters might daub on their placards should we ever have a PM called Balls.

Philip, Margate, England

Mr Moncrieff

It might make Balls Mosley

Tim Calvert, London,

No matter how many style gurus and PR experts Brown hires ( all at taxpayers' expense ) there is no getting away from the fact that he is inept, out of touch, hugely unpopular and a control freak who cannot make sound decisions.

Gordon, you are the weakest PM - goodbye.

R.M., London, England

If Brown is Chamberlain does that make Balls Churchill? Er, no, in my opinion.

Tom Moncrieff, London, England