THERE is no hiding from the fact that the European election results represent a disaster for the Labour Party in general, and Gordon Brown in particular.

Even in the socialist heartlands of the North-East, where the party’s performance was viewed as a relative relief, there remains huge concern about Labour MPs’ prospects at a general election.

It is clear that Mr Brown has become an electoral liability and, although he survived last night’s crunch meeting of Labour MPs, it is a matter of time before he is ousted as party leader.

The British National Party’s gains must be kept in perspective, while not being under-estimated. But what is undeniable is that these election results underline the extent to which politicians have become disconnected from voters.

With less than a third of people bothering to vote, a major bridgebuilding exercise is required – and Mr Brown is not the man to oversee it.

He deserves credit for the ten years he served as Chancellor, and for the decisive actions he took to stabilise the banks.

Britain may have been landed with enormous debts in the process, but the recession would have been much, much worse had he failed to act in the way he did.

But, for all that, the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the British public.

We have a lame duck prime minister and the back-stabbing will continue.

The great sadness is that the infighting and jostling for position will distract attention from the huge problems facing the country: the recession, the threat to democracy, and the need to clean up politics.