It's all backfiring on Gordon

les

To be honest I am now beginning to feel a little sorry for GB. He is clearly a man driven by an ambition to make life better for less advantaged individuals but the means of doing this is now beyond him.

it appears that he has lied and continues to lie and the strain of this is telling on him. He looks tired and haggard and needs a blooming good two week holiday. Not a week in a rainy english resort followed about by TV cameras but a proper holiday with no phone, no blackberry just him, his wife and kids.It would do him the world of good.

When he comes back he should take another more honest line on spending. how and what Labour would CUT - compared to how the Tories would CUT. Put a bit of honesty in the debate.

I truly beleive that lying and knowing that he is lying is causing GB so much stress that it is clearly affecting his health !!

Mr Angry

As a numerate voter, it never ceases to amaze me how gullible and innumerate most political commentators appear to be. Its geart to see that you and Nick are 'on the case', its just a real shame that all the media are not vigorously pursuing these lies. It is clear to all reasonable adults that the Government's finances are a disaster and that really tough decisions need to be made now. Waiting another year for a General Election is simply going to increase the pain and produce more lies!

Acer

I'm older than you and it reminded me of Richard Nixon, at the height of Watergate, saying "The President of the United States is not a crook".

john miller

Well done, Fraser. Vindication of your stance taken on here.

Reading this morning's papers, it seems you have caused Brown's strategy to change and that now he is going to admit to cuts.

This is not a normal person.

I don't believe many of us could bang on for a couple of weeks that "black is white" and "I always tell the truth" then try and say that black is black and you never said anything different.

Most of us don't know how to deal with this deranged behaviour.

In order to continue the campaign against Brown, I suspect the best adviser Cameron could turn to at the moment is a mental health practitioner.

And the sad thing is, I'm not joking.

Patrick

The underlying truth behind all British politics right now is that Labour have failed - and comprehensively so. We're broke. Kids can't read. Crime is the worst in Europe. Unemployment is soaring. Etc. Etc. There is no good story to tell.

But Labour can't very well base any campaign on a position of honesty then can they?

All they have left is to lie about their record and their plans. In the internet age that is no longer really an option. So Labour are out of options.

They've ruined the country. They deserve to be routed at the election. End of story.

Short the UK

It is pathological. He is ill. I don't think there is a treatment for his pychopathy. He really should be in a job where he cannot indanger fellow workers. He could be a writer, working from home. He could trade the markets, working from home. Just not a job in which he is mixing and bossing people, as he will just bully the staff.

It is the first real time diagnosis of a mentally unfit PM.

Dr. Evil (Brown) and his Mini-Me (BALLS) are being rumbled on the Net.

The really "bad" people are the ones who are going along with Dr. Evil and enabling his evilness.

You just couldn't make it up...

oldtimer

Mr Watt appeared on the Daily Politics yesterday to comment on PMQs - he almost sounded like you. Was this a first for a Guardian journalist?

If, or perhaps when, Mr Brown moves off his discredited "cuts" line he may well move on to another lie he perpretated yesterday, namely that Cameron is planning to increase unemployment. Of course Cameron was, again, merely quoting numbers from the "envelope" and the "projections" published by the Treasury.

His PMQ lies about Cameron and unemployment put into a clear context his claim, to Mr Robinson, that "I always tell the truth".

The Brown strategy is clear; when in a hole, keep on digging.

lawrence greek

I didn't see it Fraser, but I hope you absolutely nailed 'Mr 0% Honesty' - the public at large need to know.

Chris M

One of my weaknesses is that I side with the downtrodden guy who seems to be on a certain loser.

In this case I hope he leaves the government in absolute disgrace and is put on a plinth as someone who nobody should ever aspire to or feel sorry for. He's ruined our country and made it even worse by not only continuing with a broken government but devising a scorched earth policy to make it harder for his successors. I hope he gets what's coming.

Mike, Brighton

"I am not a crook" .. "I always tell the truth".

History always repeats itself as farce.

Ian E

Next thing he will be telling us that he is a pretty straight kind of guy!

p.s. Why did anyone fall for that line?

Tony

Mad Maggie had a similar saying; if you have to tell people you're a lady, then you are'nt.

dorothy wilson

There's a strange little notion developing somewhere in the back of mind. It is along the lines that Mandelson is trying to clear the decks - dropping the part privitisation of the Post Office, the ID climbdown - to clear the decks. That would leave open the possibility of dumping Brown after the summer recess and even going for a snap General Election in the autumn.

All this may seem slightly far-fetched, particulary in view of the theory that Mandelson needs to keep Brown in place till Lisbon is through, but I wouldn't discount it entirely.

HFC

And do you also remember, Acer, that one of the most telling lines against Nixon was, 'Would you buy a used car from this man?'.

Well you wouldn't want to buy anything from Brown, would you?

David Ossitt

Acer.

"The President of the United States is not a crook"

He was; Brown is.

And so are all of his inner circle; all spouting pre-programmed lying propaganda.

TrevorsDen

"So I kicked off saying Brown’s claim to always tell the truth was, in fact, a lie. " -- spot on.

I am going to nominate you for the Pulitzer Prize Mr Nelson.

As I and I am sure many others have watched with growing incredulity the increase in lies coming out of browns mouth - I just ask why has it taken so long for people to realise whats going on??

Hawkeye

I see that even Bagehot is getting in of the subject of political lies

http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2009/06/on_lying.cfm

I have to say that The Spectator seems to have inflicted more damage on Brown than the rest of the media combined. First we had the spending debate - which the MSM is now running after following Fraser's lead - and now we have the "lies" debate which looks like it is going the same way.

Well done Fraser and The Spectator team. I shall show my full appreciation of your efforts in the most sincere way known - I'll purchase a copy of the latest issue.

I hope the magazine is as good as the Coffee House. Well done!

TevorsDen

Oh - Acer, Tony Blair "I'm a pretty straight kind of Guy" !!

Fiona

The man's a congenital liar. He thinks the truth is beneath him; political gain is worth sacrificing the moral high ground of the country, our economy, our reputation, the financial future of our children. He has no shame and I think he's probably mentally ill. He certainly appears delusional.

yours aye,

a disgusted Scot

Common Place

Great jokes of our time:

Where are you travelling?

To Cracow.

Look, what a liar you are:
When you say you are going to Cracow, you want me to believe you are going to Lemberg, but I know you are going to Cracow. So why are you lying?

Simon Stephenson

Fraser

There's a subtle difference between what you are reporting and Nick Robinson's account - enough of a difference to give Brown plenty of scope for a time-waste and wriggle.

According to Robinson, what Brown said was:-

"I've always told the truth"

which after weeks of claim and counter-claim he could finally concede meant something like:-

"Throughout my life I have told the truth - not exclusively, I defy anyone to be able to say that - but often enough for me to assert that I am an honest man. I'd be proud to know anyone who could claim more than this"

You write, on the other hand, that he said:-

"I always tell the truth"

which is less equivocal, only allowing semantics over the definition of truth. To be honest with you, it's an assertion that would gain so few marks at the Brown School of Manoeuvring that I'd be staggered if he actually made it.

Remember the boom and bust palaver, with months of pointless to-ing and fro-ing which culminated in him saying, all innocent like, that he only ever committed to have ended "Tory" boom and bust, and then turned away with a smirk at having led his critics up hill and down dale for months.

Remember, aleays remember, that this is what he does - always - and that the way to scupper him is not to address the issue on the terms that he has determined, but to get the terms sorted out.

Finally, Fraser, the Labour hierarchy will see you as a major threat, and will be after you big time. Don't go for any obvious mayflies, or you will lose all your ability to hit them where it hurts.

The Cat in the Hat

There once was a PM called Brown
Whose poll ratings kept going down.
Spending cuts he denied,
He just lied and he lied
And he looked like a big circus clown.

Each week he was asked about cuts.
A clear answer, no ifs and no buts.
Would he come clean,
Or play Mr Bean,
No, he just lied tut tut tut tut tut tut.

Arthur Brown

We're living through the last days of Britain now. If the Scots have got any sense they'll push off and the Northern Irish might even see the usefulness of a united Ireland. Scotland, Ireland and Wales can form a kind of 'outer Britain' and leave the English to fester alone.

oldrightie

He was directly involved in The manifesto broken pledge to hold a referendum on the "fiddle the name" EU Constitution. That document itself a lie after The French and Dutch rejected the federal "truth". Ergo anything in a Labour Manifesto is worthless. if The UK wake up to that, end of labour as we know it.

Simon Stephenson

dorothy wilson : 10.06am

Yes. This theory has been suggested in these pages before.

There's no chance that Labour under Brown can win an election, nor that he is the best person to minimise the defeat. So as sure as eggs are eggs there will be mutterings about displacing him. Whether or not this happens depends on how strong is the fear among his reluctant supporters that he could/would wreck their lives if they went against him.

Even out of office, a sociopath like this is never going to give up - he'll be settling scores for the remainder of his days.

Ruth

I can't tell you how much of a pleasure it was to see you on BBC TV Breakfast sofa this morning; it indicates a seismic shift in the media coverage of the 'labour investments v tory cuts' argument. Well done Sir!

Dirty Euro

But the tories say there will be riots under the cuts.
How can the tories claim on the one hand they will cut the debt and on the next they will not cut public spending.
It seems they want to please both sides. Which is it public spending cuts or no public spending cuts. Will there be any difference between the two parties.

Irene

Fraser, I missed the programme unfortunately.
I do think that the Conservatives should now be concentratiung more on the whole Government for the lies not just Brown, because if they get rid of him and bring in a new face they could possibly make some ground before the next election - Cameron's message should be can you trust any of this lot now - NO!

terry

Has anyone got a clip of Fraser's BBC appearance this morning?

Andy Pandy

My theory of Brown's mental state is that he is on the asperger/autistic spectrum. Modern theory on this is that this is about a complete failure to contextualise. Most people can keep many conflicting thoughts, feelings and observations in their consciousness or subconscious and so can evaluate what is the best way to act. Aspergics cannot do this - which explains why social relations are difficult for example. Brown is so focused on sorting out the recession and banking crisis that he literally cannot see that he is a prime cause of it. He is so focused on a single strategy for dishing the Tories that he can just lie without realising it.

For those who want to find out more on this visit www.caetextia.com.

Jonathan Cook

I'm 80 pages into Gordon Brown's biography by Tom Bower - which is highly revealing.

Brown is yesterday's politician, trapped by yesterdays ideas, policies and feuds. I think he gets himself entrapped into positions where he feels he has to lie.

Unfortunately for Brown, Fraser is a constant thorn in his side, and unpicks his position all too easily. Something Brown himself used to do to Nigel Lawson.

the pro from dover

"there can be no whitewash -- in the Brown House"
Do we have an impeachment process in UK?

the pro from dover

Another one,
(Tony Blair) "I can apologise...."
er, sorry, did you actually apologise, or just say it was possible that you could, at some point in the future, find a way to apologise.

At least Brown knows he isn't smart enough to use weasel word-play to avoid the truth, he just flatly denies it.
"Has anyone been in touch with Damina McBride?" "... I haven't..!" was the best he could come up with.

Good thing the Cabinet is made of stern stuff and can face him down. Oops, no that was a day-dream.

Disillusioned

Culpable as Brown is, the Conservatives must also ensure the Labour Party as a whole is held responsible for the mess we are in. Labour have sat by and watched as Brown and his sidekicks have wreaked havoc and, even now, when it is clear to all that Brown ha gone off the rails, Labour still won't do anything to stop him.

Simon

I think what concerns me greatly is that its not just Browns error but there are an awful lot of spineless and gutless politicians around him who will not stand up to him. If they had any integrity they would get rid of him and work out how to tackle all the issues this country faces. The fact they dont perhaps shows they havent a clue what they are doing and probably just enjoy the status and privileges of being in government. My hope is that our democracy will bring some long overdue humility to these people.

Thanks for your work Fraser.

Cogito Dexter

'Dirty Euro', I think what the Tories mean is that if the people are promised rises and increased spending (as Gordon is doing) only to discover everything is actually slashed after an election they'll rightly be furious about it and that it's far better to be up-front and honest and tell them which services will be protected and which aren't necessarily going to get of scot free.

It really is a case of Labour's Lies coming home to roost.

[ My blog has more on this: http://cogitodexter.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/breathtaking-lies-from-balls/ for a start ]

Cardinal Richelieu's mole

Isn't it about time a representative of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland spoke out - to assure the rest of us that it is not at all a squalid little creed that rejoices in lying, cheating and smearing?

Perhaps Scots Presbyterians assume this is not necessary for everyone assumes Brown misrepresents his Presbyterianism like he does everything else. Still, it would be nice to hear from them.

John Moss

Those of us who banged on for years about the deficit budgets Brown ran from 2001 onwards start to feel vindicated.

It's a sideline, but it is a neat illustration of the fantasy land Brown lives in that he was repeating up to last year thet debt had been re-paid when in fact he spent £202bn more than he got in in taxes between 2000-01 and 2007-08, doubling the National Debt over that period.

Now, of course, he's really go going!

dorothy wilson

Andy Pandy: How about this? It is from Carl Jung's work on personality types.

"Introverted Thinker – cold-blooded strategists, loners, theorists. Arrogant, unsociable, having a certain disdain for others who they consider stupid. Seem to others to be constantly angry, almost hateful. Completely certain in their own opinions, strong willed. Sometimes shamelessly exploited by strong women. Attacked from the unconscious by a primitive extraverted feeling function, which makes them take every criticism, even fair, very personally [and later makes them seek revenge]."

Of course, taken to extremes, if the strategy they are pursuing is based on an incorrect premise or if circumstances change, they find it very difficult to admit they are wrong. They find it even more difficult to admit they are wrong.

The Laughing Cavalier

Brown is clearly NOT "a man driven by an ambition to make life better for less advantaged individuals." He is driven by pride, predjudice and hatred and personal ambition. If he ever had a moral compass he lost it decades ago. He is unfit for high office, a passive-aggressive coward who schemed, connived and back-stabbed his way into his present office. Now that he is there the potemkin economy he created has caught up with him and his incompetence exposed. Unfortunately, he is unable to understand any of this so we shall be stuck with him until June 4th next year.

Ric

I must confess that when I saw you introducing the 'cuts' line at *that* PM press conference a few weeks ago I wondered if it was a mistake.

With Flint resigning mid-conference, talking about anything other than Cabinet collapse seemed to be letting Brown off the hook.

I take it back. You were *so* ahead of the pack on this.

I honestly believe you represent the future of professional journalism in the new age; exploiting the laser focus afforded by digital publishing to pursue an issue in a way that has never been possible before.

One of the greatest frustrations I've felt over the last few years has been the sense that no-one seemed willing or able to hold these shysters to account.

So thank you, Fraser.

Pat Morgan

Yes but what are we going to do about it!

How do we get him out of Office?

People in England should be on the streets. He has totally ruined the country for us and our grandchildren.

Someone will have to pick-up the pieces and it won't be pretty.

Mandelson is actually PM now so if we could get rid of him Brown and his spineless cabinet would fold.

Pat

Andy

I think it was Cherie Blair who first had the man sussed:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article649974.ece

Boudicca

Andy Pandy and Dorothy Wilson:

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is another contender...

The serial bully displays behaviour congruent with many of the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Characterised by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity and self-importance, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, people with narcissistic personality disorder overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments, often appearing boastful and pretentious, whilst correspondingly underestimating and devaluing the achievements and accomplishments of others....Belief in superiority, inflating their self-esteem to match that of senior or important people with whom they associate or identify, insisting on having the "top" professionals or being affiliated with the "best" institutions, but criticising the same people who disappoint them are also common features.

Narcissists react angrily to criticism ... Fragile self-esteem, a need for constant attention and admiration, fishing for compliments, an expectation of superior entitlement, expecting others to defer to them, and a lack of sensitivity especially when others do not react in the expected manner, are also hallmarks of the disorder. People with narcissistic personality disorder also have difficulty recognizing the needs and feelings of others, and are dismissive, contemptuous and impatient when others share or discuss their concerns or problems. They are also oblivious to the hurtfulness of their behaviour or remarks, show an emotional coldness and a lack of reciprocal interest, exhibit envy (especially when others are accorded recognition), have an arrogant, disdainful and patronizing attitude, and are quick to blame and criticise others when their needs and expectations are not met.

I don't disagree with either the speculation about him also having Asperger's and his personality being and extreme version of Jung's Introverted Thinker (Myers Briggs type ISTJ).

By the time someone gets to late middle age, their character can show in their face. Gordon's face is like the picture of Dorian Gray - all his bullying, lies and deceitfulness over the years is clearly showing.

strapworld

Mr Nelson. You were right, at the outset. The Internet will kill off this Government more than the normal media, as they move on with the latest breaking news.

Congratulations. I also saw Nick on yesterdays PMQ programme and I have always admired his honest reporting. He was very good in his analysis and could have been yourself.

I have yet to meet a person who told me they told the truth..and did!
But I am a cynical old time copper!

Brown cannot change. He is devious and will lie and lie. I just think, though, that he will go sooner than later. A sudden condition will 'sadly' force him to stand down and retire. So allowing Johnson to have a couple of months to make a mark and announce in his big speech to the Labour Party Conference on the Wednesday that he was calling a General Election...so denying the Tories their Conference!!

Marc Oliver

If the Government had anything left to say to the country (I see no evidence of it, but I am probably biased), the country would refuse to listen because the main protagonists for Labour - Brown, Balls and Mandleson - are almost universally discredited and despised.
The Labour Party; Labour MPs; the saner members of the Cabinet: - all agonise, pray for a miracle, and do nothing.

I want a Tory government, and no bones about it. So the more Brown and his closest cohorts are exposed as liars and charlatans the further we get from a nasty surprise at the next election: which is a Good Thing. Nevertheless, from an almost anthropological viewpoint, it is startling to watch the Labour movement commiting what can only be described as suicide by self-paralysis.

Peter Spring

"Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad"
Gordon Brown is increasingly like Hitler in the Führerbunker, detached from reality, obsessed with secret plans and clever tricks to steal victory from defeat. One can only watch untterly mesmerised at his performance and wonder how much collateral damage he is going inflict on the rest of us.

Bill Quango

Gordon cannot tell the difference between not getting caught in a lie and telling the truth.
If he promises no spending cuts, then people don't know he has cut spending..well that's the same as not cutting isn't it?
It all works fine until one day the bloody wheels fall off the cart.

logdon

As for all bark Bercow? Forty eight hours and they treat him with the usual systemic contempt for parliament he specifically ruled against?

Expenses, phoney figures, open and shameless dishonesty and now this?

All part of the New Labour package I'm afraid. However this drip, drip is not unnoticed by the populace out there.

Rather than concentrating on the journalistic input on the myriad of sites and blogs, read the comment.

My view is that as the internet grows this interaction is creating it's own media democracy and as more and more join in the debates a new political savvy is emerging.

Blogs such as Coffee House, Guido, Plato, Dizzy, Old Holborn and the rest are attracting massive readership where the frustration of ignored voters can be aired in as frank as possible manner.

Add in the broadsheet sites and it's like a huge focus group, all too willing to tell it as it is.

And it looks like the right is winning hands down.

Creativity, that amorphous buzzword much abused by the BBC and previously regarded as a left-wing attribute is emerging in a genuine, funny and completely untested manner on the blogs dominated by the right.

Maybe it's a reaction against the corrupt status quo which modern politics has descended to. Maybe it’s the way Labour is riding roughshod over democracy which is raising ire and bringing out the fire but it’s certainly there.

We are in the middle of a very uniquely British revolution, slow building at first but as the sparks of dissent take hold, spreading with an inhexorable force.

The old class orders are demolished yet Labour is still living in an age of tractor statistics and Pravdaesque edict. They can’t see that it’s over and no one cares anymore. What matters is that we now clean up this unholy mess of Brown bunkers, Mandelson meddling and Balls balls ups.

Deniable plausibility, misspeaks and the rest will not cut it. Cameron and Osborne, having eclipsed the Bullingdon smears now have to rise above the mire of the midden, be genuinely transparent and at all costs honest.

Then smash this cabal, which has virtually ruined Britain, into such discreditted obscurity that it never rises again.

patrickinken

GB may suffer from aporia. In Greek, this is perplexity or a lack of resources. In critical theory it describes moments when meaning cannot be satisfactorily decided.

dorothy wilson

Andy Pandy & Boudicca

I think our comments are all elements of the overall package.

Norm

How have we got to the point where lying to parliament just gets a few mentions on blogs and the odd mention in interviews?
He just gets worse by just the right amount to get away with it each time.
In a few weeks he'll have Cameron shot at PMQs and we'll all just tut a bit then forget about it.

R.McGeddon

Gordon, oh Gordon you’ve taken us for fools.
You lied about Prudence and your ‘Golden Rules’.
You plundered our pensions and decimated our savings,
We’re fed up of listening to your ‘global’ ravings.
Blair claimed you’re a genius; he lied to us too.
The ‘British’ economy is in deep doggy-doo.
‘No booms, no busts !’ you used to shout out.
That was all hubris, of that there’s no doubt.

You bang on and on about your Presbyterian daddy,
Born a son of the manse and raised in Kircaldy.
Now how would he regard you, now you've claimed you'never lied ?
Everyone's looking at your numbers; that's what you're trying to hide.
You say your ‘moral compass’ isn’t pointed toward sleaze,
But what about Darling, McNulty,Malik,Moran, Smith and Blears ?
Of the Top Twenty Troughing MPs, NuLabour’s got SIXTEEN !
Sir, your Cabinet is rotten - you’re nowt but a has-been.

Now,if you’d like us to show a scintilla of affection,
Screw up some courage, CALL A GENERAL ELECTION !

Wat Shaws

I'm not sure the Sub-Prime Minister has mastered the idea of antithesis, for instance truth and falsehood, or expenditure increasing or decreasing.

Simon Stephenson

logdon : 2.28pm

I agree that the blogosphere has given politicians etc. a real shake-up. I'll give it 10 years before the authoritarians have got control of the internet and close it all down. This is what authoritarians do.

Maybe 5 years, but let's say 10 just to be on the safe side.

Mrs J Burndred

It would be impossible for politicians to tell the whole truth on every occasion. I would not expect them to do this, but what I don't understand is why Brown should tell lies which can easily be disproved.

I am thinking particularly of the 10% tax on lower earners. I know from personal experience that this did adversely affect low earners and why should honest politicians like Frank Field take up the cudgels on behalf of low earners if Brown was telling the truth?

The current proposed cuts in the government budget are another example of Brown hiding the truth. We all know that there will have to be cut backs and tax increases. We also know that the Conservatives are trying to prepare us for this. Why should Brown choose to lie about it? It is so illogical on his part and destroys his credibility as Prime Minister.

Barbara

If Gordon says he refers to capital spending and investment spending as two different things, can we hope that this will put a stop to his mendacious tendency to call all government spending 'investment'?

David Gillies

Obviously one thinks of the Nixonian parallels and 'I am not a crook', but in terms of Brown's narcissism, deviousness, backstabbing, glowering sulks and betrayal of those to whom he has pledged allegiance, the historical figure he reminds me of most is Napoleon. Think of the wonderful painting by Delaroche of Bonaparte, slumped in defeat at Fontainebleau, and tell me you can't see Gordon looking similarly crestfallen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DelarocheNapoleon.jpg

Simon Stephenson

Andy Pandy, dorothy wilson and Boudicca

I'm sure you're right that Brown has a very unusual personality. You need to be careful how you consider this, though. These disorders are not an all-or-nothing type of arrangement. Narcissism, for example, appears in most individuals to some degree, but it's the level at which this manifests itself that's important. Moreover, Brown must be an abnormal person, mustn't he? He's Prime Minister, for heaven's sake. People who have a make-up that allows them to get to this position aren't two a penny.

The way forward I think is for the general public to recognise that the people who get to the top of the leadership pyramid are inevitably going to be unusual, abnormal. We need to understand this, and to put in place processes that will prevent these people from using their power against our will in a way that damages us.

The problem we have is not that Gordon Brown is sociopathic, but that we don't have the means adequately to control him. To a large extent this is because we've become a population that no longer disapproves of self-centred, anti-social behaviour. In fact we go further than just tolerate it, we actively encourage our children to be assertive, over-esteemed little prigs. Thus we find it hard to complain when our leaders display the same characteristics that we are nurturing into our children.

Chuck Unsworth

" “My father told me: always be honest,” he told us "

Do we believe that?

Wat Shaws

I find I can only invest money if I don't spend it. The concept of 'investment spending' is oxymoronic, but then the Sub-Prime Minister doesn't really 'do' antitheses such as spending and investment, increase and decrease, or truth and falsehood.

logdon

Simon Stephenson
July 2nd, 2009 3:52pm

logdon : 2.28pm

Or emasculate it beyond all recognition, a la El-Beeb.

Guido's lot refer to Nick Robinson as 'Toenails'. So far up Gordon's fundament they're the only thing showing!

And, watching his pathetic non response to Gorgon's, 'I have never lied', I guess they're on the nail.

Asmodeus

Acer

A year or so ago Mr Brown appeared on TV and, for one brief and utterly disconcerting moment, my missis and I both saw the face of R. Nixon looking out through the skin of G. Brown. Eerie? You bet.

JohnAnt

We'll have to re-christen Brown 'Matilda'.
Goes well with Mandy and Emily.

James Williamson

How can anyone "..feel a little sorry.." for Brown? He has brought all this on himself. Ask the dispossessed how sorry they are for Brown.

It seems Brown has got stuck on some philosophy that worked the last time round, but he has been well and truely sussed out.

David Price

It's essential that we (the downtrodden public who don't want this man in a day longer than necessary) don't let Brown define the terms of the argument any longer.

Now that Dave Cameron has pretty much nailed Brown's lie about "investment", it's essential that he moves on to the next step. i.e. "given that the PM is cutting by at least 7% - according to his own figures - over the next few years in all departments, can he tell he tell us which NHS services are due for the chop? Cancer care, heart medicine, GPs, etc.?"

Basically there's been a war about figures which DC has won, now it's time for DC to get Brown to admit the ramifications of those cuts, pointing out that - under the Tories - at least the NHS would remain undamaged. This then completely takes the debate out of Brown's delusional fantasy arena, and makes the voting public realise BOTH sides will be cutting. It then becomes 'who do we best trust to cut', which is where the Tories are polling best...

paul holdstock

i have just seen on bbc's 'look north' a supposed surprise visit by brown to a market trader instigated by them phoning him on a local radio show.
if ever a 'photo opportunity' looked staged, this was it.
i suspect the local trader featured, will prove to be a labour member/stalwart, and the call and response to it, planned ages ago.
this sort of nonsense just shows how deeply ingrained dishonesty is within brown and his cabal.
once out of office, the sheer extent of the lies we have been fed will still have the power to shock us.

Max Kaye

Great work Fraser.

Don't let up.

Tankus

dorothy @ 10.16
think your spot on ...Mandy considers Brown expendable , he's already done it once before , he WILL do it again .If he sees some sort of political advantge.
Cant stand the guy , but he does make Alan Bas'tard look like a rank amateur ... when it comes to manoeuvres.
If he was a fictional character , he would be dismissed as being too far fetched ,beyond satire even.
Who cares what gordon is going to do /relaunch /restate /retract etc !
Its what's mandy going to do once he's spat Osborne out .. isn't it !

I'm off to watch another downfall clip on Utube

andrew

it is difficult to find where brown has told the truth.

a trully hideous,deceitful man.

Marriott

Is it not possible that Gordon is a paranoid schizophrenic and that one of him might be telling the truth

Annie B

Brilliant Fraser - as ever - keep it up!

That's News

"I've always told the truth"

But not any more, perhaps?

John Law

David Price
July 2nd, 2009 6:17pm
Right I think David What to cut is much more comfortable for Cameron (the Canadian approach some time back, to work backward from what should be funded seems a good approach and should play well to Joe public). He can also throw in a few gratuitous easy targets from the legions of useless nay oppressive Quangos.

Brown then has to decide which of the cohorts of Labour chums in useless state and public sector jobs, he is going to sacrifice or worse for him, save.
Could provide months of fun for those of us who have seen their childrens' businesses ruined.
It could become a big Spectator sport.

Number 10 Spinmiester

We will be cutting public spending. We are already reviewing all the major spend to see what we can stop and divert to other political "priorities" - read that as you will.

If the cut is only 10% for some departments/ agencies/ |NDPB's and local authorities etc they will be doing very well indeed. think more like 20% and you are in the area of what number 10 is already planning. CST has already sent a letter to all departments asking for a further 20%