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Summary
A Labour parliamentary candidate today dubbed Gordon Brown the worst prime minister Britain has had. Manish Sood, who is standing for the seat in north-west Norfolk, said Mr Brown should say sorry to Britain and to the Queen. According to the Lynn News newspaper, Mr Sood said: ''Immigration has gone up which is creating friction within communities. The country is getting bigger and messier. 'The role of ministers has gone bureaucratic and the action of ministers has gone downhill - it is corrupt.''The loss of social values is the basic problem and this is not what the Labour Party is about. ''I believe Gordon Brown has been the worst prime minister we have had in this country. ''It is a disgrace and he owes an apology to the people and the Queen.'' The damaging statements come less than a day after Mr Brown gave what some have described as his finest speech for months, and risk undermining any positive effects the Prime Minister might have gained. Mr Brown has suffered several tough setbacks during the campaign: he was widely viewed to have come third in the final television debate; polls suggested Labour could be on the brink of their worst electoral defeat since 1918; Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, described him as a desperate politician; and, today, his close ally Ed Balls has said tactical voting might be needed to fight off the Tories in marginal seats. Coming so close to the election, Mr Sood's comments are a further blow to Mr Brown's bid to win a fourth term for Labour. Mr Sood, 38, declared the Tory-held seat unwinnable from the start of the election campaign. In the article, he promised to get back to basics and clean up the system if chosen to represent the area. Mr Sood is reported to have said: We have to get back to basics where people can leave their money outside for the milkman without it being stolen. The councillor also believes the Queen should have more respect and more say in government decisions. But Mr Sood did praise Mr Brown for lowering interest rates for mortgage owners. Asked on Sky News if he stood by the comments, Mr Sood replied: Absolutely, yes. Obviously this is a very serious matter because we have a Prime Minister standing so close to the General Election and things are going totally wrong, and it's a real disaster for the cities, the country and the nation. And if you look at it, the average person has really got no respect for the Government and really we are moving towards not a government system but more towards anarchy, and that is very, very dangerous. Citing Labour's planned increase in National Insurance and rising fuel prices, Mr Sood went on: All the policies he is bringing in are a total disaster. The Prime Minister sought to brush off Mr Sood's comments when he was asked about them in Leamington Spa. We are fighting an election campaign and we are fighting to the finish, he told Five News in a pre-recorded interview.
