Brown's plans
James Forsyth 11:27am
Kevin Maguire, who is extremely well connected within the Brown circle, has an interesting little item about what Gordon Brown might do once the electorate, or the Labour party, have given him his marching orders:
There is also an interesting suggestion in James Macintrye’s political column that Brown might hold a referendum on Scottish independence on the same day as the general election. Despite the fact this is probably being designed to hold down the SNP vote, it will be a considerable help to the Tories if they form a government. With the Union having been reaffirmed, it will be far harder for the SNP to try and claim that a Tory government without a significant presence in Scotland is illegitimate.“Academia may not be Brown’s sole destination, whenever he departs No 10. The Talibrown speculate about the Lords. John Major and Tony Blair gave the rest home a miss, avoiding the need to register lucrative interests. But a Lord Brown of Kirkcaldy lecturing on economics for a living would have no huge earners to hide. I note Brown’s never supported a wholly elected upper chamber, voting to retain a fifth of seats for the great and, perhaps, the Gord.”
Previous
Mr Green
June 25th, 2009 12:13pm Report this commentLecturing on economics :(
Dear God, no!
Simon Stephenson
June 25th, 2009 12:18pm Report this comment"But a Lord Brown of Kirkcaldy lecturing on economics for a living would have no huge earners to hide"
No, I suppose not. All he'd have to hide would be that he knows nothing about economics.
Still, he could get someone else to write the lectures, and then all he'd have to do is deliver them in his own inimitable style.
Simon Stephenson
June 25th, 2009 12:19pm Report this comment"But a Lord Brown of Kirkcaldy lecturing on economics for a living would have no huge earners to hide"
No, I suppose not. All he'd have to hide would be that he knows nothing about economics.
Still, he could get someone else to write the lectures, and then all he'd have to do is deliver them in his own inimitable style.
dave, surrey
June 25th, 2009 12:29pm Report this comment'lecturing on economics for a living'.. one can't help but think of that old phrase 'those than can; do. Those that can't; teach'
boulay
June 25th, 2009 12:33pm Report this commentthose that can, do.
those that can't, teach.
appropriate no?
Paul Howgate
June 25th, 2009 12:42pm Report this commentBrown lecturing on economics????....just cant stop laughing..he`d have to do it for free...just the sort of drivel that spouts effortlessly from Kevin Maguire
CS
June 25th, 2009 12:44pm Report this comment"Lord Brown of Kirkcaldy lecturing on economics for a living would have no huge earners to hide"
To put it mildly.
Johnathan Pearce
June 25th, 2009 12:47pm Report this commentHow about lecturing on off-balance sheet accounting?
GB watcher
June 25th, 2009 12:57pm Report this commentMaguire is wrong on this. Look at what Brown told Andrew Marr a few weeks ago:
AM: Can you promise people watching that you will not put people into the house of Lords in its current unreformed state so that we won’t find just before the election there’s a long list of people going into the House of Lords with your name at the bottom?
GB: I won’t, I’m not interested in the House of Lords. The idea that you’re going to put myself into the House of Lords is…
AM: No not you, sorry, that you are going to approve a list…
GB: I’m not interested in being in the House of Lords…
TrevorsDen
June 25th, 2009 1:03pm Report this commentThat the useless idiotic Maguire thinks brown could lecture on anything let alone economics is risible
The Preston Park Panther
June 25th, 2009 1:05pm Report this commentLet's face it, clueless never-done-a-day's-work economic lecturers and their big-government, spendaholic Keynesian notions have played a fair part in getting us into this mess. Broon will ensure the tradition continues.
Olaf Rye
June 25th, 2009 1:08pm Report this commentI work in academics and think that Brown would do an admirable job--he is incompetent, vain, childish, spiteful and self-important. Moreover, his demonstrable inability to understand even the rudiments of a balance sheet would be popular. These sorts of qualities ought to elevate him to the highest echelons of the university !
McKenzie
June 25th, 2009 1:28pm Report this commentLeave him alone now, he's screwed. Pick on that bastard Mandelson, he has done more harm than the lot of em put together.
Rhoda Klapp
June 25th, 2009 1:34pm Report this commentSo we will have a referendum on Scottish independence as a political ploy to get to the end of the week. To maybe slightly abate Labour's disaster. Something as serious as this, putting the future (or not) of the Union up for grabs for a tactical gambit. Blimey.
Jonathan
June 25th, 2009 1:35pm Report this commentOnly Brown would consider putting Scottish independance on the agenda in an effort to save the Labour vote. The man is a total ....
GS London
June 25th, 2009 1:40pm Report this commentWill anyone turn up?
r
June 25th, 2009 1:55pm Report this commentThe prospect of Brown training a generation of aspiring politicos in economics is little short of terrifying.
He'll probably do almost as much long term damage as he has as PM!
Liz Brown
June 25th, 2009 2:00pm Report this commentSurely a Referendum on Scottish independence is for the Scottish Parliament to decide?
As to gormless lecturing on economics - to whom precisely - the birds and the bees?
Carly
June 25th, 2009 2:16pm Report this commentWhat would be the Tories response if he were to hold a PR referendum, on general election day, and the result was in favour? Could they say we are not in favour of PR and we will not abide by the referendum result. Would this be possible?
Tory Girl
June 25th, 2009 2:18pm Report this commentIf this happens I hope Cameron goes nuclear and completes the devolution process. By setting up an English Parliament. Otherwise the Tories are finished.
Jimmy Hill
June 25th, 2009 2:40pm Report this commentBrown lecturing on economics would be like attending a seminar on good parenting hosted by Fred West.
David Dee
June 25th, 2009 2:40pm Report this commentGordon Brown lecturing on economics !No. that sounds far too serious.
How about giving 'Boy' George Osborne a bash at it !! Now that would be funny in the extreme !
David Bouvier
June 25th, 2009 2:55pm Report this commentBrowns lecture course:
"Brown's Economic Miracle 1997-2010: 'The end of boom and bust'"
"Asset price bubbles and how to unwind them"
"Reform of financial regulation"
"Advanced public accounts: redefining 'up', 'down', 'spending' and 'investment'"
...
Rhoda Klapp
June 25th, 2009 3:04pm Report this commentAnd now I find that Dr Massie agrees with me over the referendum, but his words got out first. Damn.
Steve Tierney
June 25th, 2009 3:09pm Report this commentWhile we're at it, how about Lord Ronald McDonald lecturing on Nutrition and Lord Humpty Dumpty lecturing on health and safety.
mac
June 25th, 2009 3:17pm Report this comment" . . . Maguire is extremely well connected within the Brown circle."
Nose uppermost, I understand.
Paul
June 25th, 2009 3:28pm Report this commentHangon, so hang on a sec. Everyone seems to be saying that because Scots won't vote for independence, they won't vote SNP. Well, that's not necessarily the case.
OK, now I get it. We're saying that the referendum will bring out the Unionists to vote for Labour at the GE?
To be honest, I would sacrifice the Union if it rid England of IngSoc. England is a powerhouse, and with a Tory government - Englands default setting - it can make its own way in the world.
cityboozer
June 25th, 2009 3:31pm Report this commentAm I going mad? Why has nobody pointed out the huge flaw in the "election+referendum" option?
It is most obvious with an electoral reform proposal - what if FPTP returns a government of party A but the electorate also approves a change in the voting system which if used to count the same votes would return party B? It is utter insanity and the only way to avoid it is for such a referendum to happen right in the middle of a parliament, proposed by a government (or parliament) which a reasonable mandate and moral authority.
It's most obvious in the PR case but applies just as well to other constitutional questions.
Longtimetory
June 25th, 2009 3:54pm Report this commentDave Dee's back! Or just uncovering himself after months of Brown-shilling. Too serious? Dead right, mate. A too frightening thought - hordes of future students brought up on his lies, double and triple accounting, and general obfuscation, not to mention a total inability to own up when he has been caught with his fingers in the till!
dorothy wilson
June 25th, 2009 4:07pm Report this commentTwo problems. Brown knowledge of economics is a disaster zone. Ditto his communication skills.
However, it is interesting to note that even a hard Labour supporter like Maguire is now speculating about Brown's departure from No. 10.
David Ossitt
June 25th, 2009 4:22pm Report this commentMcKenzie
"Leave him alone now, he's screwed"
Why? I want to see him broken and humiliated, he must be made to see how much he is despised.
bergen
June 25th, 2009 4:32pm Report this commentLet's face it.He's so damaged both as a politician and as an individual that he'd be unemployable as a consultant commercially and the lecture tour won't want him.
He's too young to retire.He could surprise us and stay in the Commons like Ted Heath rather than go to the Lords.
Ethan
June 25th, 2009 4:35pm Report this comment"Lord Brown" - the best argument for a wholly elected second chamber that I have ever heard.
Derek
June 25th, 2009 5:57pm Report this commentThe "huge earners" that one would be on the look-out for, and which one would hope would not be as a light under Brown's bushel, would be the pay-off from the European Union for, from a list of possibilities, reneging on the electoral promise of the Labour Party to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. These earners would no doubt be suitably disguised, as are similar lucrative arrangements said to be awarded to former members of US administrations by Saudi Arabia "for services rendered" during their time in office. Let us try to ensure however that this candle "is on a candlestick" where it can give "light unto all that are in the house"...Pactio Olisipiensis censenda est.
Laura
June 25th, 2009 5:59pm Report this commentPaul, totally agree with you.
Simon Stephenson
June 25th, 2009 6:55pm Report this commentlongtimetory : 3.54pm
"Dave Dee's back! Or just uncovering himself after months of Brown-shilling."
Could the reality be that he's actually the second member of the quintet, which would be further evidence of the inextricable linkage between name and nature.
Boudicca
June 25th, 2009 7:32pm Report this commentHe'll end up in a plum job in the EU or World Bank- the reward for depriving the UK electorate of the democratic right to vote on the sovereignty of their nation and staying in Office just long enough to ensure that the Tories don't hold the Referendum either. Oh, and for covering up enough about the Iraq war to ensure that Blair becomes EU President (God help us).
Barman at The Red Lion, Whitehall.
June 25th, 2009 9:00pm Report this comment"But a Lord Brown of Kirkcaldy lecturing on economics for a living..."
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.........
Oscar
June 25th, 2009 9:02pm Report this commentIs David Dee really Kevin Maguire? Apparently Toilets was the infamous Hazel Tree - the scourge of Three Line Whip for awhile. David Dee is probably Hazel with a sex change.
JohnAnt
June 26th, 2009 1:39am Report this commentWe could have a comp, naming the Oxbridge College we dislike the most, where the Saviour of the Universe could become Master-in-Perpetuity.
Plus some newly-appointed dons to match the new regime.
Major Plonquer
June 26th, 2009 2:48am Report this commentBrown lecturing on economics would be about as useful as King Herod lecturing on babysitting.
Moraymint
June 26th, 2009 9:56am Report this commentThe bloke who crafted the mother-of-all economic busts for the United Kingdom, lecturing on economics?
Remind me not to enrol for that gem of a college course please!
Verity
June 26th, 2009 1:57pm Report this commentSpeaking of the highly qualified, like Gordon Brown, I hear Mark Sanford will be taking up a Yalelectureship on morality in public life.
Back to top