A ringside seat
Matthew d'Ancona 10:55am
Just left the Andrew Marr Show, where I was on the sofa discussing the day's big story before the full broadcast of Andrew's pre-recorded interview with Gordon, in which the PM called off the snap election.
As I argue in today's Sunday Telegraph, it is only a fortnight since Brown was on the very same show, insisting coquettishly that he would not be providing a 'running commentary' on his election planning. Now it looks as though it is he himself who is 'running' - from the people's judgment which, his pollsters told him, could not be assumed to be positive.
So often impressive since he entered Number Ten, Gordon looked evasive and irritable today. He said he needed time to set out his 'vision': what, then, was the purpose of his conference speech with its parables, promises and 'moral compass'? He dismissed as 'froth' all the speculation of the past few weeks - which is rich, given that most of it was whipped up by his own acolytes. 'Froth' is one of those political code-words like 'tittle-tattle', used by politicians to fend off discussion of something which is true but unpalatable. The briefing overnight was that the electoral register is not in sufficient shape to call an election. This excuse was used in 1978 when Callaghan postponed the election. It was pathetic then, and it is pathetic now. Are we seriously to believe that the Brown election team only made this discovery on Friday?
Small wonder David Cameron looked so chipper in his own interview with Marr: the Tory leader has had a terrific week. The formidable challenge that lies ahead of him is to keep up the momentum he achieved in Blackpool, as the long march to a 2009 election begins. But, as he admitted while the credits were rolling, he doesn't now have to give quite such immediate attention to the huge dossier of manifesto documents sitting reproachfully in his briefcase.
Previous
David
October 7th, 2007 1:09pm Report this commentI sincerely hope you took Marr to task over his pathetic interview.
Max Kaye
October 7th, 2007 1:19pm Report this commentThis is a great opportunity for Cameron to discard all the climate-change nonsense and concentrate on serious issues like tax cuts, smaller government and the EU referndum.
TGF UKIP
October 7th, 2007 1:36pm Report this commentBrown has painted himself into a corner and cornered rats are always at their most dangerous. Dave's "formidable challenge" will start tomorrow as Brown seeks to hit back and regain some of the ground he's so amazingly squandered. These next few weeks could see Labour at their most nasty, vicious and tricky (notice how much elbow room Brown was giving himself on the EU Constitution?) so it's going to be interesting to see how the Tories play it and how the Labour fight back plays with the voting public. The polls are set to get even more fascinating. Incidentally, I agree with David - comparatively Marr was,as usual, like a puppy with Brown and only became terrier-like when he got on to IHT with Cameron. Arise Sir Andrew must come before 09.
graham
October 7th, 2007 9:13pm Report this commentYou are quite right to point out that it is "only a fortnight since Brown was on the very same show, insisting coquettishly that he would not be providing a 'running commentary' on his election planning"...But don't forget that Brown had an opportunity to dampen this right at the start of September in his 3/9 interview on the Today programme where he again tangled the possibility of an early election...My point: people talk about Brown dithering for the last couple of weeks, but this merry-go-round has been near the top of the news agenda for over a month now...
(Here's an article on Brown's 3/9 interview)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6975678.stm
Bruce
October 7th, 2007 9:49pm Report this commentLike most of the BBC Marr is Labour the Scottish BBC and Labour are virtually the same organisation.
salieri
October 9th, 2007 10:28pm Report this commentNow, now, Bruce, that's a nasty slur on the Scots and especially that nice Mr. Marr (and only half of me is Scottish: he is entirely professional). Susan Rae is lovely, but maybe that's just my prejudice because she has a beautiful voice - and would have even if she were a government spokesperson. It's only the government that's overrun by unemployable Scotsmen - and please note, not Scotswomen - the BBC is just Institutionally Regional. And never forget P G Wodehouse's immortal words about Broon avant la lettre: "It is possible to tell the difference between a ray of sunshine and Scotsman with a grudge."
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