The right long-term decisions?

Brook Whelan

Gordon Brown's claims of making 'tough decisions' on things such as nuclear power etc are nothing of the sort. It is just spin. There is nothing 'tough' about making a decision, particularly when civil servants will already have given their advice. People are now realising that Gordon Brown is a ditherer, and this is just one more reason why him and his government should go.

Trumpeter Lanfried

The Government will postpone the decision until they have one of those 'good days to bury bad news.' Then they will quietly announce more early releases.

Nicholas

One of the interesting things about Brown's short premiership and his cabinet is the way they seem to have buried the responsibility for New Labour's past 10 years in government and re-invented themselves as New New Labour. To see the way they behave one might think that the Brown government was newly elected in the summer of 2007 to replace Blair's regime - as though it was a different party. Yes, Brown claims economic stability and various other credits as the achievements from those years and tends to put the negatives down to lessons learned or the changing world (where they are admitted at all) but the current posture is quite remarkable given that Brown was Blair's right hand man for 10 years and the power behind the throne for most if not all fiscal policy decisions. Owers exposure on prisons is not unique; there is a raft of long term problems that are recognised as being directly or indirectly attributable to Brown. But, despite these revelations and the good offices of the Coffee House in cataloguing the "Brownies" the damage done by them seems disproportionately small to their weight of evidence and Brown sails on regardless with even more barmy ideas and dodgy fiscal decisions for our immediate future. The opposition parties appear incapable of concentrating a groundswell against the government, a "schwerpunkt", to rock Brown's world.

Austin Barry

Poor old Gordon: the miseries of realised ambition. Each day, by a kind of negative alchemy, his Utopian "vision" results in a more Dystopian society. And, my God, doesn't his face reflect that misery. He must be the gloomiest PM in living memory. You get the impression that his perpetual waking thought is the cheery "Unceasing death a whole day nearer now". Even Blair with his mad grin and manic schoolboy persona was preferable to this rainy-day-in-Gallowgate depressive.

chris

The fascinating thing for me is that the "conviction politician" is the worst spin doctor imaginable. Seemingly no decision is made without reflecting on how it effects the goverments standing or attmpts to outposition the tories, non-doms, last budget's supposed tax cut! If Brown had any "courage" he would institute his own policies and face the ultimate consequences at the ballot box. He'll only get one chance at this PM thing and history books can be unforgiving! He's a secterain, bully boy though, whose only life has been in politics so the spin, lack of substance, morals or truth will continue until he calls an election at the last possible moment. Gordon, don't wish too much for what you really want!