Stephen Hodgson

Posts Tagged ‘Gordon Brown’

Iain Martin of the Wall Street Journal provides one of the best summaries of Gordon Brown’s non-resignation speech that I’ve read.

Iain writes:

It was classic Brown. He laid out the terms on which the rules allowed him to remain in office. He accepted that Cameron and Clegg were talking, but said he was on hand if it didn’t work out.Other than that he was mostly getting on with the job, as usual.

It all sounded rather self-centred, despite it including an appeal to the national interest. If there was a reference to colleagues with seats lost or voters feeling let down by him and his party then I missed it. Even his biggest supporters admit that as so often with the PM it’s all about Gordon. In this manner he waxed and waned on what he was doing today. That seemed to involve him being important, and telephoning other important people. Let’s say there was not much emotional intelligence on display or recognition of his situation.

It was a study in a certain kind of stubborness and disinclination to confront cold hard truth. He could have acknowledged defeat, accepted it and subtly prepared the ground for his inevitable exit.

Is Brown likely to be PM in ten days? Surely knowing the answer is no, Brown’s priority should have been to manage a dignified retreat.

Iain goes on to provide an alternative speech that would have allowed Gordon Brown to resign with dignity.

Brown is shamefully desperately clinging on when it is clear voters have rejected him. The BBC is even reporting that Gordon Brown made an abusive phone call to Nick Clegg last night:

Liberal Democrat sources have told the BBC’s Jon Sopel that Gordon Brown delivered a diatribe laced with threats when he spoke to Nick Clegg last night by phone. It was in sharp contrast to the respectful and constructive talk between David Cameron and Mr Clegg, they added.

It’s about time Gordon Brown actually acted in the national interest, rather than just paying lip service to it. That starts with him clearing the way for a new prime minister.

Despite coming to the Loughborough consitutency last Friday (30 April 2010), Gordon Brown failed to really visit Loughborough – instead focusing his visit on Loughborough University. This is the second time that Gordon Brown has come to the Loughborough constituency only to bypass the town of Loughborough.

By contrast, David Cameron’s recent visits to Loughborough included a public question and answer session at Loughborough town hall (July 2008), visiting Rainbow’s Hospice (January 2010) and a public meet-and-greet in Loughborough market place (April 2010).

Loughborough University is undoubtedly a fantastic university (which of course I would say having graduated from there) and it is a key part of Loughborough and the local economy but Gordon Brown’s focus on Loughborough University to the exclusion of the town grates with many Loughborough townsfolk.

In what are hopefully Gordon Brown’s final few weeks in office, more and more people who have worked closely with the PM are going public to describe his management style (if it can be called that) and what it’s like to work for Gordon Brown.

Last night the PM was forced to go on television to give an interview denying that he has ever hit his staff. However, he admitted to becoming angry and to “throwing papers”. People who have worked closely with Brown say that he is verbally abusive to staff, that he hit an aide, that he threw a secretary out of a chair, that he throws his mobile phone and office equipment in angry outbursts, that he kicked over a desk in rage and that he drove a top aide to burst into tears, amongst other things.

Brown’s aggressive temper was apparent on live television last September during an interview with Sky News:

Today’s Observer reports that Brown was asked by top civil servant Sir Gus O’Donnell to “curb your volcanic temper”. Sir Gus is also reported to have told the PM that his abusive and unpredictable behaviour towards his staff was “no way to get things done”.

Just this evening it has emerged that some of Gordon Brown’s staff contacted the anti-bullying charity “National Bullying Helpline”.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed (who in fact worked under Gordon Brown as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Treasury when Gordon Brown was chancellor) describes Gordon Brown as a “towering figure” – but it is increasingly obvious that Brown is nothing more than a coward and a bully. He is certainly not fit to hold the office of prime minister.

People should take a long, hard look at Gordon Brown before deciding to put a cross next to Labour on their ballot paper. A vote for Labour is a vote for Gordon Brown.

In characteristic fashion, when he is pressed for comment on an important political issue Loughborough MP Andy Reed falls silent, refuses to comment, says there are more “serious” issues to talk about and desperately hides, hoping the story will pass. This has been Reed’s response to repeated expenses scandals, Sir Thomas Legg’s expenses report and recently the issue of the proposed move of the NHS walk-in centre in Loughborough.

But can we read anything into Andy Reed’s decision today to refuse to comment on whether he supports Gordon Brown in light of the internal Labour Party row about the leadership of the Labour Party and, for the time being, the country?

This afternoon Andy Reed dismissed the leadership challenge as not a “serious issue” and suggested he was too busy to talk to journalists about the story. He tweeted:

In a meeting but phone going mad over Hewitt Hoon from journalists who never call when there is a serious issue to talk about.

Mr Reed subsequently tweeted another five times this afternoon. Whilst other Labour MPs that use Twitter took the opportunity to post public messages of support for Gordon Brown, Andy Reed refused to do so – even when challenged by Twitter users to reveal whether he supports Gordon Brown or whether he in fact sides with the rebels led by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt.

Could it be that Andy Reed has finally come to realise what the public has known for years – that Gordon Brown is a disastrous prime minister and that the country would be much better off without him? Is that why Andy Reed is staying silent on this serious issue?

Update (07/01/10): The Leicester Mercury asked Andy Reed to comment on whether he supports Gordon Brown and reports that “Lougborough’s Labour MP Andy Reed was unavailable for comment”.

Jedward are out of X-Factor, giving the Conservative Party the perfect opportunity to respond to last week’s Labour poster campaign with this:

Jedward are gone but we're still left with... Deadwood: Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling as Jedward