IPSWICH Labour MP Chris Mole has backed Gordon Brown amid growing pressure on the Prime Minister.

IPSWICH Labour MP Chris Mole has backed Gordon Brown amid growing pressure on the Prime Minister.

Amid concerns about the economy, a devastating by-election defeat earlier this month in Crewe and Nantwich and an embarrassing tax rate u-turn, speculation is mounting that Mr Brown could be asked to step aside by Labour MPs.

However Mr Mole, who signed a letter in 2006 urging then Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down, said yet another change was not the answer to the government's problems.

He said: “I think he (Gordon Brown) was the right guy last year and I can't suggest we should be chopping and changing the leader every 12 months.

“That would look like panic and it would be panic.

“Everyone recognises we are in a difficult position but I don't think panic reactions are necessarily going to convince the public that we have got on top of those issues.

“We need to take a good hard look at how we go from here to the next election and it should be done in a calm and considered manner.”

Back in April, Mr Mole suggested Gordon Brown should make more TV appearances to boost the party's chances at the next election.

A defiant Mr Brown vowed to fight on following the party's poor showing at the Crew and Nantwich by-election, but commentators have suggested there is a growing mood of panic among some Labour MPs about their chances at the next election.

Do you share MR Mole's views or should Gordon Brown step aside for a new leader? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk