Brown still in denial; YourSay.

IN MANY respects last week's Norwich byelection is a defining moment in Gordon Brown's and New Labour's period in office. As we all saw in the by-elections just before Labour came to power in 1997, scandal-hit governments never tend to re-emerge out of the ashes. In other words this government, just like John Major's in 1996, has lost its moral authority to govern.

We know it, government ministers know it, Labour MPs know it, opposition MPs definitely know it, but the one person who is still in permanent denial is Gordon Brown.

As a former Labour Party member I saw the start of the rot in the party when Blair decided to invade Iraq in 2003, and of course we all know what has happened since.

Gordon Brown's ministers are still leaving his sycophantic club at a record rate, even though they tend to back-track on their various anti-Brown comments on a daily basis. Why these Ministers won't stand up to Gordon Brown bemuses me greatly and I often wonder if there is still a bully-boy mentality coming from No 10.

Ian Payne, Walsall