Brown's slow-burn politics

Richard Jenkins

"the Conservative charge that he is a ditherer will stick." Sorry? Is that still an open question? I think the jury came back on that one a while ago.

Nicholas Millman

A clue to this man's very peculiar sense of priorities was his surprise appearance on 'Blue Peter' to wish good luck to a female presenter leaving the show after 10 years. It was probably the idea of one of his many young, immature and inexperienced advisors who devise these wizard pranks at taxpayers expense. Why is it that congenital Labour cannot distinguish between party political campaigning and governing the country?

Caroline

It's interesting that you charge the Govt. with the politics of delay, when usually the complaint is that Govts. only work towards the next election and are accused of short termism, and lack of that vision thing. ID cards are controversial, but to back down now would be a 'major U turn' wouldn't it, and an opportunity for more derision and jeering. Perhaps it's the long grass scenario and you should be relieved rather than complaining? The house building programme is, and will be long term to change the minds of those rural dwellers who absolutely will not give up any space or be deprived of their views. And we all know the country is concreted over....well 10% of it is. Persuading the public to nuclear has hardly been able to be achieved overnight has it? The NHS is under constant review, we all know that thanks to the endless complaining about it from different organisations.

Kevyn Bodman

A poorly directed salvo that misses the target here. Long-term thinking on housing, a good thing. Long-term thinking on nuclear power, a good thing. A delay in the implementation of ID cards, not a good thing because they should be abandoned altogether. Brown is hoping that the anger and suspicion that is building up against ID cards will fade away. This delaying tactic, instead of either announcing the withdrawal of the scheme or of sticking to his guns, is what you should be going at him for.It shows him as a ditherer, again, and as unprincipled.

David Parker

Many of Brown's policy promises were highly optimistic even when first announced when there were already warning signs of a falling economy. To have ignored these is evidence either of incompetence or dishonesty; in the light of Brown's recent performances, probably of both. Merely to postpone the implementation of such policies, rather than admitting that they are no longer achievable, is a sign of cowardice. In times of economic turmoil the prospects for Britain under such a leader are bleak indeed. Needless to say, however,there is not the slightest chance of his own party deposing him of Cameron effectively opposing him.

Pete Hoskin

Kevyn: I agree that long-term thinking in some areas is a good thing (that why I wrote that "due care is no bad thing in itself”). However, I believe that Brown's consistently long-termist approach won't go down well with voters. Will current first-time buyers be happy to hear that affordable homes will be available in 2015? Will those struggling with fuel payments be satisfied with cheap nuclear power in ten years' time? Besides, this isn't just about votes - many of these problems need dealing with now and they just aren't being solved.

Nicholas Millman

"The house building programme is, and will be long term to change the minds of those rural dwellers who absolutely will not give up any space or be deprived of their views." That is a comment that manages to be patronising and simplistic at the same time. At least it echoes Labour government contempt for "rural dwellers" and its obsession with an urban perspective. There is not much space or many views being built into the labyrinthine mini-estates so beloved of developers and to whom Labour plans for planning must be a dream come true. Then there are those awkward rural topics the great leader's master plan would rather ignore - like infrastructure, public transport, jobs creation and, oh yes, the quality of life.
There is a world of difference between long-term planning and desperate fudging to fit issues around a schedule focussed already on how to win an election rather than govern the country. Anything likely to dent the great leader's dubious popularity being shoved beyond a general election date whilst headline grabbing but utterly puerile announcements, like banning fast food shops near schools, are wheeled out daily. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

Caroline

Nicholas Millman. “Then there are those awkward rural topics the great leader's master plan would rather ignore - like infrastructure, public transport, jobs creation…” If small villages (and market towns) expanded there would be transport, jobs created and infrastructure put in place. It would benefit the locals who complain about the lack of those facilities. Village schools closing? Build more houses and bring in more families to fill that school, create businesses, use that PO, and keep the local shop and petrol pump going. Brown field sites have and are still being used up, but I can’t help thinking that it seems a little selfish to consider that it’s OK for ‘other people’ to have to be housed in some high density flat built on the site of some poisonous old chemical works in the town or city, rather than in a roomy house with a decent sized garden with pleasant and fresh surroundings for their children, perhaps near to where the likes of you and I live. It’s a popular and much vaunted expression by the likes of the Countryside Alliance that the Govt seethes with ‘contempt’ for country dwellers – rather the opposite in my opinion, formed by my always having lived in the countryside, and my experience tells me that people who live in pretty villages, will complain endlessly about lack of amenities, but will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo and prevent the expansion which would bring in the facilities they say want. Quite recently there was an excellent discussion on this very topic on Radio 4.