Brown’s First Hundred Days

Anyone coming new to British politics would not believe Prime Minister Gordon Brown had been the power behind the Blair throne for ten years before taking the crown for himself. The tone is so different, so conciliatory. You could be forgiven for thinking that the Brown the media talks about; that his own colleagues talk about behind his back, is another person entirely. Judging by the latest polls, even the ordinary people of Britain, having endured ten years of hard Labour, seem prepared to suspend their natural scepticism and take Gordon to their hearts. What’s going on?

Well, there are many learned folk who believe that if you know someone’s past history then you have a good guide to their future. I subscribe to this view because it’s been proved time and again. Do you remember Michael Howard, one of the several Tory leaders, of whom it was said, ‘there’s something of the night about him?’ When he took over he was a different person, acknowledging past mistakes, saying how he was a caring, sharing person really and not a scary, cold, emotionless, dictatorial figure, and indeed he was changed into a bright, humourous touchy-feely party animal – for six months. Then he was back to his old alienating self. It was unnatural behaviour and he couldn’t carry it off.

Today, Brown is saying exactly the right things. For goodness sake, he is speaking UKpopdems words straight out of our vision, goal and policy statements. He wants the NHS to look outwards to the people instead of upwards to government; he wants the NHS (again) to provide the best treatment and care; he wants an independent exam system for schools; he wants to look after our armed forces better; and other things UKpopdems stand for. It almost does make you want to cuddle up to him and share his ‘Big Tent’ of all the talents. He even makes a middling stab at spontaneity and question and answer sessions.

And yet history tells us that Brown’s natural habitat is very different. He is known as a control freak who makes up his own mind and brooks no opposition and accepts no contrary view. He is known as the master of spin, hiding any bad news and double and even treble announcing positive news, especially on spending. He is a man who hides when there is trouble and pops up again afterwards when there is capital to made out of spinning that the day has been saved. I, and many others, believe he does not care about you, or me, or the ordinary people of Britain. He cares about winning elections above all. It was Brown that Blair pleaded with to help him win the last election when things looked bad. And shockingly, after the last election, the first meeting MPs had was not to talk about how Labour was going to make good on its promises to improve life for all Britons; no, it was about how the next election was going to be won.

This uncaring attitude is backed up by his ten years as Chancellor. He was prepared to see hundreds of thousands of pensioners left with nothing after their funds collapsed, despite government assurances they were safe. He was even prepared to rob (others words, not mine) pension funds to the tune of billions every year to fill his coffers, thus contributing to the problem. He has encouraged huge levels of consumer debt, just so that he could claim Britain’s economy was strong and growing thanks to him. He has hidden the real and shocking truth of Britain’s high unemployment figures by reclassifying people who are out of work as disabled, inactive, or training; and also by hiring millions of extra bureaucrats in non-jobs; all this at your expense. No wonder he has a voracious appetite for your money. That’s what he does care about.

Let’s look at the three ‘events’ that occurred on his watch this Summer, and how they were handled. Then we can see the real man behind the words and how our Prime Minister will actually deliver.

1. The Floods. Brown kept his head down initially, then came out to shake hands, and then re-announced the billions of flood-defence spending he had already allocated. But it turns out many floods were caused by lack of money for basic maintenance. The drains had not been cleared. And the new money was not for maintenance, it was for building new defences. There was no extra money for maintenance. And then the victims were hit twice by being told that because of the foods, water bills would have to go up. Brown could have stopped this, made extra money available in a disaster, but he didn’t.
2. Foot and Mouth. Brown disappeared form view, but excellent reaction from DEFRA to try and contain the outbreak. Then we learn that the outbreak was caused by a ministry drain that had not been repaired; and the reason for this was a dispute about who was going to pay for it. So once again, people suffer because money is not available for maintenance.
3. Northern Rock. Brown disappears. A new Chancellor seems to panic behind the scenes. The more The Chancellor and Bank of England reassure, the bigger the run on the bank. The sight of the queues travels around the world and shames Britain, a world leader in finance. The Bank of England has no answer and melt down is in prospect. Brown reappears and takes over. His forte, surely - meat and drink to him. But his answer is a wild move that guarantees total Northern Rock and other bank savings. This is contra to all measures of prudent behaviour, Brown’s past byword.

What this tells us is that Brown is the same man. He loves the grand gesture, the big announcement. But when it comes to the dirty job of making things work day in and day out, the grind of practical delivery, it doesn’t interest him and so there’s no money for it and he doesn’t pay attention to it. The appalling scandal of lack of support for our soldiers and their families is a classic example. Brown pledges improvements but there’s no new money. Look at the grand announcement gesture of deep cleaning all our hospitals. How will it work, how long will it take, and where’s the additional finance? The grand announcement that all gun toting immigrants will be deported. The EU says it cannot be done, so what’s his plan? Do you remember Brown saying he was going to end world poverty? These empty gestures hit the right note emotionally, but have no practical outcome.

So my view is that the Brown government will be exactly the same as the Blair government; plenty of strong announcements, plenty of spin, but weak on delivery. The real difference might be that whereas Blair came forward to communicate his thoughts at every juncture to spin failure as success, Brown could just disappear when difficult explanations are required, quite happy to let others take the flak. Another ten years of that is too ghastly to contemplate.