Hunting for a vision

Stronghold Barricades

Please can we just have a countdown to the election?

If all the bloggers and MSM carried it live on the front page it would demonstrate that they are in touch with the electorate views and would re-enforce the message to Brown that he can shorten the period but can not extend it

Vulture

Peter, you are being unfair : Bruin DOES have a big idea. In fact its the only one he's got- it is this: 'I'm going to hang on to power, come what may, for as long as I possibly can.'

C Powell

Can I suggest "one big idea" for the next Government? Competence: boring, old-fashioned, competence - at every level of government. That would make a pleasant change.

john miller

Interesting point raised by Matthew Taylor in the article.

He says that one of Brown's strengths is his "rainbow" cabinet.

But this cabinet is a long way from "all the talents".

It is a rag tag collection of the motley crew that still sail in the ship of despair with Brown nailed to the mast.

Rhoda Klapp

A mandate isn't just Peter's idea of an evening out.

AuldCurmudgeon

It's all about guts and integrity isn't it? Well it's about time David Cameron showed some. If he's sincere about keeping Brown in Downing Street until an election can be called, now's the time bring David Davies back and go for Jackboot Johnson over ID Cards and civil liberties.

Not only is the cause just, Johnson has been hung out to dry in Home Office. One might as well oblige by wiping Brown's biggest political threat off the map at the same time.

Aidan

It's quite clear why the "Democratic Renewal Council" is favouring Alternative Vote. Gordon believes that most constituencies have a left-thinking majority: the total Labour, Lib Dem, Green, BNP, SNP and Plaid votes is greater than the total of Conservative and UKIP votes. AV will allow the left wing vote to consolidate behind the left wing candidate with the most first preferences. So the next Government would be a Lab/Lib Dem/Green coalition with Gordon as PM

Russell

Isn't it remarkable how Brown's so-called vision for the country coincides exactly with his vision for himself? L'etat, c'est moi, as Louis XIV put it.

Of course one difference is that Louis greatly increased his own and his country's influence in Europe and the world, whereas Brown...

Nicholas

Hundreds of thousands of people voted Conservative or UKIP last week but the petition telling Gordon to go is still only 67,000! The only thing those voters can do now to express their disgust and repulsion for Brown and his useless, corrupt and unwanted government is to sign the petition.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/please-go/

Think of Dan Hannan's Dr Seuss poem on European Election night and sign the petition!

Gordon Brown will you please go now!
The time has come.
The time has come.
The time is now.
Just go. Go. Go!

I don't care how.
You can go by foot.
You can go by cow.
Gordon Brown will you please go now!

You can go on skates.
You can go on skis.
You can go in a hat.
But Please go. Please!

I don't care.
You can go
By bike.
You can go
On a Zike-Bike
If you like.

If you like
You can go
In an old blue shoe,
Just go, go, GO!
Please do, do, do, DO!

James

Prepare for a year of 'Scorched Earth' as Gordon and his boys do anthing they can to cling to power or wreck the chances of the Conservatives taking over in good order.

stepney

If any politician is looking for a vision they'd might want to start with this fact:

Employment in the public sector last year rose by around 50,000 every quarter; employment in the private sector fell some 280,000.

The rest of the pieces should fall into place with some simple Maths.

Jane

My God! He's back to headless chicken mode. I feel dizzy just reading it.

Mike, Brighton

Never forget that whilst Brown is good at internal Labour politics and crushing dissent through bullying and smears, he's rubbish at party politics. Its all short term tactics and dividing lines.
As with all his big plans, his laughably communist evoking "national plan", will fall apart with the first probing interview.
Brown would not know "boldness" or "decisive action" if it bit him on the bum

Jeremy

Brown, like Blair before him, is a constitutional wrecker. He is not a nation-maker, he is a nation-destroyer. He does not create hope, he creates despair. He does not govern in the interests of the country, he governs in the interest of the "political class" that has long since taken control of the Labour Party and destroyed it as the authentic vehicle and voice of the working class in this country. We no more need Brown's "constitutional reform" and his "national plan" than we need the proverbial hole in the head.

It is not "the system" that has failed the politicians, it is the politicians who have failed the system. Therefore we do not need to change the system, we need to change our politicians. And the best way of doing that is through a General Election.

Chuck Unsworth

So what? So what if he really does have a 'vision'? He's run out of our cash.

The NHS scam is going to implode shortly, there has been a collapse in business and city confidence, education is falling apart, mass unemployment has returned.

'Vision'? What kind of 'vision' is this? Did he forsee any of this? Why did he not anticipate these disasters if he's such a 'visionary'?

He would have us believe that he has been powerless to take action against overwhelming external forces. But this man is nothing but a common thief. He's had his hands in our pockets for a decade - and blown it all away. We'll be paying for his 'vision' for generations to come.

oldtimer

This story reveals some of the reasons why Brown is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Another reason is that he, and his bunker henchmen, are among the rottenest of the apples in the Westminster barrel.

This government has neither the standing nor the mandate for what they propose. That can only come from a new House of Commons.

I read at the end:
"Who wants another Michael Foot?” said one minister.
Well at least he got 28% of the vote for his party.

Derek

Among the caterpillars of the commonwealth, Brown is our chief caterpillar.

wonderfulforhisage

Mr H. you write:

If anything, recent history attests to Michael Gove's thesis that the Brown premiership is motivated simply by "hanging on to power for its own sake."

Funny that. I deserted the Tories for the first time in fifty years last week because of similar concerns with Cameron and his acolytes.

TGF UKIP

C Powell hits the nail right on the head for what Dave's response should be: "We've had twelve years of Big Ideas, National Plans and Radical Initiatives, what we haven't seen and desperately need is plain old fashioned competence and common sense and we know from bitter experience that the last people we can expect that from is this government of hucksters and spinners."

WASHBROOK

Great stuff on the Comedy Channelhttp://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230058&title=peter-schiff

john miller

lol Rhoda - if anything proves that we don't always read each others comments, your one does.

egh

Love the posts from Nicholas and Jeremy. You guys have it right!!

Andy in France

Fine Gordon has some big ideas.

The problem that he fails to see is that he has NO MANDATE for any of them and we know but he doesn't seem to know that we know. Get your head out of your arse Gordon and go to the country and find out what we the electorate really want.

Simon Stephenson

"'This is classic Gordon. He thinks of the story first, then tries to work out what the policies should be. It should be the other way round. Gordon has 1,001 small ideas, but no big idea,' said one Whitehall veteran."

I think this misinterprets the process that is actually happening.

Brown views himself as the world's only source of political Miracle-Gro. His supporters are the watering-cans through which his nourishment is distributed, and his detractors are immoral charlatans peddling what they can have no doubt are inferior products.

With this supra-human understanding and world-class cunning and cleverness, was there any doubt that this colossus would rise to dominate the world stage?

David Ossitt

Everything he does has but one purpose; to deflect criticism, he simply wants to distract attention from the fact that he is a total failure, a disaster, a nincompoop, and a liar.

chris

Chuck is right. The game is up. The cash not only has run out, we're well and truly bankrupt. How can the public cough up for the state debt let alone their own?
The only way out is more hardship for the genuinely needy, hard work by those who are capable, higher taxes, lower public spending, and complete transparency and honesty in politics. (I'm not talking about expenses, but the bigger picture). Everything else is a smokescreen. Also, remember the voluntary sector.

Richard Lowe

Gardening Leave

The only people who don’t want a general election and a fresh start are Labour MPs who know the jigs up but want to cling onto their pay and perks for as long as possible. Perhaps someone should table a Commons motion to dissolve Parliament with the caveat that all MPs would be paid until June 2010. It happens all the time in business: it’s called “gardening leave”.
This would be cheaper than all the pre-election bribes on the never-never that will no doubt constitute what passes for a policy agenda for this clapped-out government.

MPs Second Homes

Pretty straightforward this. MPs from outside London need somewhere to live when they’re at Westminster. Fair enough. Each constituency should be alloted a sum of money to buy a London property that is available to their MP whoever it is. The house/flat belongs to the constituency and MPs don’t personally profit from it. It is serviced/furnished etc. by a Parliamentary Housing Office whose tastes and budget don’t run to anything too fancy.

There. Sorted. Wasn’t difficult was it.

The Preston Park Panther

The big vision is, of course, to scorch the earth like it's never been scorched before... and then attack Cameron over 'cuts' as the long-delayed public sector triage begins.

mac

"And Peter Mandelson drops in words like "boldness," and phrases such as "decisive action," just for good measure."

Nivelle talked like this in 1917. His great offensive plan failed and the French Army mutinied.

Of course, the self-serving PLP shows no evidence of possessing sufficient spunk even mutiny . . .

How proud these Labour warriors will be in years to come, telling their children and grandchildren: 'Yes, I did the bidding of Brown and Mandelson in the parliamentary trenches in 2009 . . . '

Jeremy

Aidan:

'It's quite clear why the "Democratic Renewal Council" is favouring Alternative Vote. Gordon believes that most constituencies have a left-thinking majority: the total Labour, Lib Dem, Green, BNP, SNP and Plaid votes is greater than the total of Conservative and UKIP votes. AV will allow the left wing vote to consolidate behind the left wing candidate with the most first preferences. So the next Government would be a Lab/Lib Dem/Green coalition with Gordon as PM'

In other words, Brown's "radical political reform" is a rushed and cynical attempt by Labour's "political class" to stitch up the voting system and maintain itself in power, come what may.

Brown is currently dangling before our eyes the promise of a referendum on the matter. But then again, he said the same thing about the EU constitution, didn't he?

Labour cannot be trusted - with the constitution, the country, the voting system or anything else.

The sooner we are rid of them, the better.

Publius

Will Brown be including Scottish votes on English laws in his review?

Labour have already burnt their fingers by tinkering with an age-old constitution they do not understand. Now Brown thinks he can score a few short-term points by wreaking still more damage.

Beware, Labour, of what you wish for! It is only a matter of time before Scotland goes spinning off on its own. All devolution creates is the demand for yet more devolution. What next? Wales? Cornwall?

And as for more "democracy", will we be having referendums on capital punishment? Or immigration? Or the Lisbon Treaty?

George Laird

Dear All

I have a radical Idea for Brown.

General Election now.

That is all the public want.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Paul

You see, I actually read Littlejohn. So I have always known, cos Rich told me (he didn't make it up), that that fecker's vision for our country was of himself, in power, forever.

RL also said all those years ago that Moron would take the Labour party down with him. Gone. Forever. It could come true.

David Ossitt

Rhoda Klapp

I must be getting old; I have just spotted your pun.

Mandate!