As Tony Blair would say, 'Weak, weak, weak'

Verity

Blair couldn't replace his Chancellor, either.

cuffleyburgers

Might we believe that Darling has stayed because he knew that if he were to go there would be a stimulus which might have led to further unbearable strain on the country's borrowing capacity?

My view of Darling is that he is a basically decent man, who has seen through Brown months ago, but feels it his duty to try to attenuate the worst excesses of Brown's spending mania?

He can't be enjoying the job.

I would give him the benefit of being the least dishonest weak vacillating coward in Brown's cabinet.

oldtimer

Brown may be weak, weak weak, but Mandelson is strong, strong strong - if the reports of how he rallied support for Brown from Blairite cabinet ministers are true.

Presumably Mandelson will now be the puppet master, disposing of Brown as and when he sees fit and, no doubt, ensuring a replacement of his own choice (ergo the nature of the reference to Balls).

If this is a correct conclusion about the implications of the past 48 hours, then the only questions of significance are (1) when? and (2) who?

Such speculation should be good for many pages of newspaper speculation over coming days (?), or weeks (?) or months (?).

jon

He was telling the truth because Daddy told him to. na na na, you're so taken.

Duyfken

Brown's denial may have been risible to you, but I call it a patent lie and a blatant lie because he surely knew as he was saying it, that we knew it to be a lie. What arrogance! And funny it is not.
And then he went on to deny that he was arrogant.
No sign of moral fibre, and the last person surely to be entrusted with cleaning up the Commons or for that matter restoring the UK economy.

Frank Middle England

Perhaps the PM should have taken on the mantle of Chancellor as well, gathering all power unto himself openly (now that would be honest) - after all, does anyone really think he has relinquished control of the post since he got rid of Blair?

mitch

Beaten by badger eh what ever happened to the "big clunking fist" ?.
More a small clucking chicken over promoted and way over his sell by date.

George Laird

Dear All

I agree that 'Brownfinger' is weak.

If you can't move the dead donkey how can you claim to be in control?

Maybe Brownfinger is working his way to taking charge of a sock puppet!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

jon dee

I hope that however the Brown-Darling working relationship progresses, the fact that our Chancellor is one of the worst expenses cheats, will not be forgotten by the media.

Come to think of it though, now the Telegraph have confirmed Brown's fiddles and "flipping", perhaps a new Balls free unity will prevail between the two.

Nah, Brown does'nt do reconciliation despite his Presbyterian evocations.

Jock

"Brown’s denial that he wanted to move Darling at his press conference was risible."

Come on now, be fair. Gordon told the truth. It's just that you have to appreciate the subtlety of his response and interpret the meaning. Thus:

Q. Prime Minister,is it true that you wanted to replace Darling as Chancellor ?
A. Balls

Joshua Chambers

Dear All,

I've written my thoughts here: http://www.theyorker.co.uk/news/blogs/3193

I can't help but think the PM is no longer in charge. Enter Peter Mandelson.

DM

Mandelson is the one who is holding it altogether. Without him Brown would never have survived Thursday night.

Verity

The nauseating Mandelson is unelected and disgraced. How can he be in charge of choosing the Prime Minister of Britain. And now he, through his puppet Gordon, is packing our second chamber with Nomenklatura to do his bidding. Our whole system needs to be revised. Any American would be open-mouthed with wonder to read of the shambles underlying the Mother of Parliaments.

And the Blair Tribute Band is where in all this? I haven't heard a peep.

I agree with Cuffleyburgers re Darling, btw.

David Ossitt

Those who now call the man weak do not understand the man.

He has always been weak; just as he has always been a coward and a bully, he has always been a ditherer, a man who has made an art form out of procrastination, just look at his finger nails.

He has always lacked judgement; is not very clever, is far from being wise and would never have succeeded in any occupation that required him to make profit or to manage staff.

To make matters worse; he is not a nice man.

I suspect; that he has few real friends.

davidke

Darling is tougher than he looks. He often tells the truth. He broadcast a couple of months ago that it was a bad mistake that the Government hadn't invested heavily in nuclear power from 1997. As an ex student / councillor marxist he appears to have come a long way, and appears suitably contrite for past errors. No so his master.

Liz Brown

It is quite obvious that mandelbum is now the real prime minister.............this is HIS cabinet
GENERAL ELECTION NOW

logdon

I noticed Kirsty Wark tried to Tango Hain on the Darling point.

His initial outright denial of a move by his new boss was soon ripped apart by her facts.

The subsequent slimy obfuscation and slithering which followed sums Labour up quite aptly.

And it certainly wasn't lost on her.

Are they now getting so bad that even the BBC is holding it's nose?

hadrian

'...I suspect he has few real friends.'
Well, what's her face from 'Loose Women' in this week's Q.T. was quite definite that under the unutterably dour and charmless exterior there beats a heart of gold.
For many of us though we suspect that gold is filched from our depleted pension funds.
With a socialist government filling up with unelected dogsbodies and the cabinet looking more and more like some grand socialist oligarchy of knaves and hasbeens I really do expect Dave and the Libs to get stuck into them on this very issue. The sheer hypocrisy of it is breathtaking. may they yet go down rending each other and their unholy opportunistic alliance to pieces.

Paul B

Particularly gruesome,vicious, but brilliant cartoon by Scarfe in todays Times, those of a weak disposition please do not look.

http://tinyurl.com/oyqe6l

RobC

I hope to god that Darling measures up to cuffleyburgers opinion.The thought of Balls grabbing the reins and printing money like a man possessed to promote a false dawn for gord to get re-elected sends shivers down my spine.We are over a trillion in debt now trying to shore up Brown's ego and the pain, when it comes after the next elction, will be felt for years to come.Gordon Brown's name will be cursed along with a legacy of golden opportunity wasted by a spendaholic chancellor whose only answer to a problem was to throw our money at it again and again and again.What a charlatan.