Senior ministers rally to PM's aid

Senior ministers rallied round Gordon Brown after he suffered the humiliation of another catastrophic by-election defeat for Labour. Following the dramatic loss of Glasgow East - Labour's third safest seat in Scotland and 25th safest in Britain - Cabinet ministers rejected claims that it was time for a change at the top of the Government. However one Labour MP publicly called for a leadership contest while others warned that the Government must change direction if it was to stand any chance of holding on to power at the next General Election. The result represented a stunning victory for the Scottish National Party who overturned a 13,507 Labour majority to take the seat by a margin of 365 votes. SNP leader Alex Salmond said that there was no longer a single Labour seat anywhere in the country which could be considered safe,... [read full story]