Gordon Brown

I think he is still on honeymoon, suny, but has made a promising start. He is very intent on becoming the 'anti-Blair' and subsituting substance for spin. I think you will see a seperation of policy with USA and a conservative fiscal policy. I like his ethical noises he makes in his approach to foreign policy, ie Darfur, Burma and Mugabe.
 
I'm pretty sure he'll go on to become a great PM.

There was a documentary about him a few months ago and he is an intellectual heavyweight (as is, apparently, Alistair Darling). I reckon that, in Gordon Brown, we'll get to see the kind of PM John Smith might have become.
 
'Noises' is right. It's just more spin over substance. He's managed to convince people he's a conviction politician of the left, whilst in fact being even further right than TB!

He's an absolutely brilliant politician, who is nevertheless largely responsible for the failures of the last 10 years, as he has held the purse-strings and in fact stopped TB implementing a lot of the reforms he wanted - esp in regards of the top-down welfare state. Whenever there is a crisis and he's rumbled, he manages to send out some junior from a Ministry which he has starved of funds, to take the blame. He did the same over the NR debacle, pushing the rap onto the Bank of England. Shameless stuff.

All that guff about the NHS in his conference speech was sickening. His and TB's policies have led to dreadful cuts in services, with many Trusts in deep deficit. This is having mortal effects, eg the big rise in the death rate in newborn babies and the rise in still births has been directly attributed in the most recent survey to lack of funding. Maternity services are in crisis. I could go on, and on, in the same vein but it's pointless.

GB's starvation of funds for the military is a national scandal and that alone makes him unfit for office, imo; esp since he has fully supported all TB's military adventures.

Gordon's always been brilliant at saying oen thing and doing another, and I don't expect that to change any time soon.
 
I don’t understand all the negativity about GB’s track record:

• Bank of England independence On taking office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brown gave the Bank of England operational independence in monetary policy, and thus responsibility for setting interest rates.
• Tax In the 1997 election and subsequently, Brown pledged to not increase the basic or higher rates of income tax. Over his Chancellorship, he reduced the starting rate from 20% to 10% in 1999 before abolishing the starting rate in 2007, and reduced the basic rate from 23% to 20%. However, in all but his final budget, Brown increased the tax thresholds in line with inflation, rather than earnings, resulting in fiscal drag. Corporation tax fell under Brown, from a main rate of 33% to 28%, and from 24% to 19% for small businesses.
• Spending Once the two-year period of following the Conservatives' spending plans was over, Brown's 2000 Spending Review outlined a major expansion of government spending, particularly on health and education. In his April 2002 budget, Brown raised national insurance to pay for health spending. Brown changed tax policy in other ways, such as the working tax credits.
• Growth An OECD report shows UK economic growth averaged 2.7% between 1997 and 2006, higher than the Eurozone's 2.1%, though lower than in any other English-speaking country. UK unemployment is 5.5%, down from 7% in 1997 and lower than the Eurozone's average of 8.1%.
• Euro In October 1997, Brown took control of the United Kingdom's membership of the European single currency issue by announcing the Treasury would set five economic tests to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In June 2003 the Treasury indicated the tests had not been passed.
 
Originally posted by Headstrong@Sep 27 2007, 01:32 PM
He's managed to convince people he's a conviction politician of the left, whilst in fact being even further right than TB!
Click to expand...
thats a good compliment.
 
From outside , it looks like he is doing quite well.


Do you think he is going to advance the elections?
 
Originally posted by Desert Orchid@Sep 27 2007, 02:08 PM
Corporation tax fell under Brown, from a main rate of 33% to 28%, and from 24% to 19% for small businesses.
Click to expand...
Isnt it too high?
 
Originally posted by Headstrong@Sep 27 2007, 01:32 PM


He's an absolutely brilliant politician, who is nevertheless largely responsible for the failures of the last 10 years
Click to expand...
What failures are these? The way he`s handled the economy and the introduction of the minimum wage were huge plusses.
 
I would vote for Gordon Clown to stay and let him clear up the mess he is rapidly pushing this country into. Why would any other party really want to take over now? There are going to be a few years of real grief ahead for many people let Labour try and dig themselves out of it.
 
BBC News 24 mentioned a stroy that Labour was recruiting campaigners but this is all the website says:

A number of individuals have been asked by the party if they could begin work next Monday, BBC political editor Nick Robinson says.

Their jobs range from planning the logistics of campaigns to liaising with voters and the media.

The recruitment process is not proof that a snap poll will be held, however.

And advisers to Gordon Brown continue to insist that the prime minister has yet to decide whether to hold an autumn election.

The people approached are understood to be self-employed or working for lobbyists or organisations sympathetic to Labour.

Some are in other political posts but all could be released from their roles immediately. However, they could just as quickly be told to return to their normal jobs.

Nick Robinson said the decision showed Labour had moved beyond contingency planning to active preparation for an election campaign, which a growing number believe Mr Brown is about to launch.

Click to expand...
 
Back
Top