As the dust settles over Labour’s leadership crisis, what are we to make of the architect of it all? For make no mistake, this crisis which is paralysing both the party and the Government is the creation of one man - Gordon Brown. The Chancellor is desperate to take over as prime minister. He knows the longer his appointment is delayed, the less time he will have to persuade British voters to re-elect Labour and give him a full second term in power.
Nothing that has happened in Whitehall over the past few days, including the well-orchestrated resignation of junior members of the Government, has happened without Gordon Brown’s support and approval.
Yet he has skulked in the background, brooding, seething and plotting.
All summer he has been the Silent Scot, using his paternity leave as a convenient excuse to duck the great issues of the day from the alleged airline bomb plot to the growing war in Afghanistan.
When he finally breaks cover, he poses as a friend of the Prime Minister, insisting that Tony Blair alone can name the date of his retirement.
No-one is fooled. Over the past few weeks we have seen Gordon Brown at his worst.
Seething with envy, driven by naked ambition, he has not the moral fibre to do the decent thing.
If he seriously believes the nation is being misdirected and that his hour has come, Gordon Brown could simply resign from the Government and issue a leadership challenge. But instead of being bold, honest and open, Gordon Brown prefers to snipe from the wings and get others to lay down their jobs on his behalf.
If Tony Blair has been damaged by this week, then so has Gordon Brown. The nation, and his own colleagues are asking a simple question: is this man fit to hold power?
As the months tick away, this is the issue which could yet trigger a leadership challenge and see Gordon Brown’s dream shattered for all time.
Walking job just takes the biscuit
AS we report today, councils across the regions are spending thousands of pounds on biscuits at committee meetings.
At the same time, Wolverhampton ABCD, a £53.5 million regeneration project, is advertising for a £17,000-a-year “community walking developer” to promote the joys of being a pedestrian.
There are two obvious conclusions to be drawn. Firstly, how very easy it is to spend other people’s money.
Secondly, if our elected representatives did not wolf their way through so many biscuits, they would be trim, fit advertisements for a healthier lifestyle - and we might even manage without a community walking developer.
This article posted on September 8, 2006 at 4:30 pm.
Is Brown fit for leadership?
Nothing that has happened in Whitehall over the past few days, including the well-orchestrated resignation of junior members of the Government, has happened without Gordon Brown’s support and approval.
Yet he has skulked in the background, brooding, seething and plotting.
All summer he has been the Silent Scot, using his paternity leave as a convenient excuse to duck the great issues of the day from the alleged airline bomb plot to the growing war in Afghanistan.
When he finally breaks cover, he poses as a friend of the Prime Minister, insisting that Tony Blair alone can name the date of his retirement.
No-one is fooled. Over the past few weeks we have seen Gordon Brown at his worst.
Seething with envy, driven by naked ambition, he has not the moral fibre to do the decent thing.
If he seriously believes the nation is being misdirected and that his hour has come, Gordon Brown could simply resign from the Government and issue a leadership challenge. But instead of being bold, honest and open, Gordon Brown prefers to snipe from the wings and get others to lay down their jobs on his behalf.
If Tony Blair has been damaged by this week, then so has Gordon Brown. The nation, and his own colleagues are asking a simple question: is this man fit to hold power?
As the months tick away, this is the issue which could yet trigger a leadership challenge and see Gordon Brown’s dream shattered for all time.
Walking job just takes the biscuit
AS we report today, councils across the regions are spending thousands of pounds on biscuits at committee meetings.
At the same time, Wolverhampton ABCD, a £53.5 million regeneration project, is advertising for a £17,000-a-year “community walking developer” to promote the joys of being a pedestrian.
There are two obvious conclusions to be drawn. Firstly, how very easy it is to spend other people’s money.
Secondly, if our elected representatives did not wolf their way through so many biscuits, they would be trim, fit advertisements for a healthier lifestyle - and we might even manage without a community walking developer.
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