He really is such a coward, isn’t he? Ever since the pensions story broke late Friday night, there has been no sign of him. Instead, we have had his messenger boys spinning and lying on his behalf while he lies low somewhere. Say what you like about Blair, he at least would have appeared on a sofa somewhere, emoting for all it was worth, and affecting righteous indignation at being accused of anything. From Brown, however, nothing.
It is clear from their insistence on crowning this man the next Prime Minister, that New Labour MPs see nothing wrong with what Gordon Brown has done. They probably don’t know what all the fuss is about, anyway, seeing as MPs’ pensions are unaffected by Brown’s wicked decision. I thought New Labour was the party of the poor, the dispossessed, the pensioners. Actually, I never thought any such thing. I have always seen them for what they are, greedy, grasping, envious time servers content to reap where others have sown.
UPDATE. Gordon Brown has finally faced the press. He believes he made the right decision about the pensions, and he would do the same thing again.
I am not surprised. This is the same obstinate, unbending coward under whose control the Treasury has overpaid tax credits of about £2bn a year, and yet no apology or explanation from him to date. If he has been unable to admit to throwing away £2bn of taxpayers’ funds a year in this way, why do we expect he would be honest about what he has done to our pension funds, an error on a far larger scale?
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Bel, do you really think there will still be a coronation?
The whole point of New Labour was that it wasn’t the party of the poor and the dispossessed. It was the party of the aspirant middle clsses, the class that had kept Margaret Thatcher in power.
Whether Brown can credibly maintain that image is another matter…
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:46 pm
‘the many, not the few’ and all such nonsense.
There may well still be a coronation, but only because some New Labour MPs are frightened of Gordon Brown’s revenge if they back someone else. Almost all of them are interested in promotion etc, so they will approach this matter based on how it would serve them. They should consider, however, that if Gordon Brown is defeated in the next General Election, they may not even have seats, leave alone ministerial careers.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:04 pm
There’s quite a few I wish that fate on…
‘If’ Gordon Brown is defeated? There’s a question here?
No, what best serves them is to get behind Gordon’s Scorched Earth premiership, then all get behind Milliband as Labour’s Saviour after the 20009/10 defeat.
If the Scottish elections don’t throw a spanner in the works…
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I think Gordon Brown has major psychological problems. As in, mega. As in, he is not qualified to be employed in public service.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Interesting take on it………..you might be right but I don’t think he’s a coward. I think he is arrogant beyond all belief. And I am hoping against hope that it will be his downfall - and sooner rather than later.
April 4th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Oh he’s a coward alright. For example, he will do anything to avoid facing an election; first 1994, and now. Also remember his spineless attempt at a coup against Blair last year.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Agreed. I don’t see how there can be any question about Brown’s cowardice. I also think that he is not only ‘psychologically flawed’ (a phrase that seems to have been Cherie Blair’s and not Alastair Campbell’s) but has a genuinely pathological condition. I think the British taxpayers - and the British at large - are paying too high a price for his care in the community.