Calls to spare Darling in reshuffle

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown was last night facing calls to spare Chancellor Alistair Darling as he prepared to reshuffle the cabinet to shore up his tottering premiership.

Supporters of Darling insisted there was no mood on the Labour back benches for a change at the treasury and they warned against a humiliating demotion for the chancellor.

The British prime minister is widely thought to want to install his old ally, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls, in the treasury in his shake-up of his ministerial pack, which could come as early as tomorrow.