Brown is either fleet-footed or indecisive – he cannot be both
David Blackburn 11:00am
Gordon Brown delivers the most important speech of his life this afternoon. Whether that speech can even check the march of the seemingly inevitable is doubtful, but his best chance is to express an alternative strain of personality from the severe and serious man the electorate plainly dislike.
Jim Naughtie and Neil Kinnock debated the alleged disparity between Gordon Brown in public and Gordon Brown in private. Kinnock repeated the line that, behind closed doors, Brown is a barrel of laughs, a near dilettante, and he sang the usual ‘if you could see him through my eyes’ chorus.
Kinnock claimed that many in Labour circles have urged Brown in private to become the “fleet-footed, highly articulate, wonderfully lucid and forceful politician” he once was, allegedly. According to Kinnock, Brown’s response is always that “the obligations of being Chancellor” required him to be deadly serious and that his “critics will claim the credit” if he changes.
Brown’s response reveals much about the man. The obligations of being Chancellor are to run the economy, not to pose as the Demon Headmaster. Despite the weight of the office, vivacious men such as Churchill, Clarke and Jenkins remained unstilted: in April 1929, the Spectator praised Churchill’s final budget speech both for its content and for its “mesmeric and witty delivery”. That Brown thought a character change was a pre-requisite implies a slightly absurd sense of self-importance – a trait that was evident when he played personality politics with Blair over tuition fees. But it is his fear of public criticism has emasculated his leadership; it chimes with the impression that Brown is a ditherer, ill at ease before the public.
Kinnock insisted that Brown’s dour persona was not an affectation. Brown’s insurmountable problem is that the public see that Kinnock is not being disingenuous.
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Martyn Rowe
September 29th, 2009 11:31am Report this commentAnyone who has read any biographies of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown or the New Labour years will know that Brown is not a "barrel of laughs".
He is a churlish, spiteful, bullying, secretive, awkward and devious man.
The Conservatives should be praying that Labour keep him as leader - he is the single most important reason as to why Labour are so unpopular in the polls.
If he had been elected as leader I could accept him as PM. I can't accept that he was foisted upon us by a frightened, emasculated party, scared to death of his thuggish, tribal clan.
Sally Chatterjee
September 29th, 2009 11:32am Report this commentIt doesn't matter whether he's dour or charming, it's his political judgement that's at fault.
He's the original "do nothing" politician. As Chancellor he did nothing about the housing bubble, he did nothing about the budget deficit, he did nothing about regulating the banks rushing to lend silly mortgages.
The result of Brown's decade was that only Britain saw so many banks collapse, only Britain was hours away from turning off the cashpoints. And there's now a massive bill for all to pay.
Charisma or not, Brown doesn't have what it takes to take the right decisions.
Vulture
September 29th, 2009 11:35am Report this comment"Fleet-footed?" When not munching on his own toenails Bruin has great difficulty putting one foot in front of the other successfully. And it ill-behoves Pillock, of Brighton beach memories fame, to praise Bruin as the drollest fellow since Geoffrey Howe. Pillock certainly gave us all a laugh, but he never realised that he was the biggest joke of all.
Ian Walker
September 29th, 2009 11:40am Report this commentIf Brown's taking advice from Kinnock on how to deliver a pre-election conference speech we could be in for car-crash viewing of the highest order!
The problem with the oft-pushed "he's great in private" line is that it's very very hard to keep up an artificial persona under constant media scrutiny. Watch "I'm a Celebrity" or "Big Brother"; people just can't keep it up for weeks on end, let alone months and years.
I suspect that Gordon Brown is exactly the same in private and public; a miserable bully.
David Ossitt
September 29th, 2009 11:45am Report this comment"Brown’s insurmountable problem is that the public see that Kinnock is not being disingenuous."
??? Should that not read as; the public see that Kinnock is being disingenuous?
Kinnock was ever the liar.
As are they all from his side of politics.
Martyn Rowe
September 29th, 2009 11:53am Report this commentIncidentally, I went to the same Comprehensive school as Kinnock (40 years after him)...
Even his contemporaries, many of whom still live in the village, think he's a bit of a tw*t.
Bert
September 29th, 2009 11:53am Report this commentA failed Labour leaders opinion of another.
Shut up Kinnock. Go back to stuffing gravy trains with your family.
TrevorsDen
September 29th, 2009 11:56am Report this commentKinnock is of course talking rubbish.
Charles Clarke and John Reid know the real Brown -- as does the No10 telephonist who was sworn at.
I also suspect that all those who came into contact with Brown as far back as when he was Rector at Edinburgh University know it as well and could tell a tale or two.
Nothing Brown as done has been correct - his decisions are invariably wrong. He has tied himself to Obama in Afghanistan - resulting in the death and maiming of hundreds of British soldiers lives - only now to face the very real prospect of Obama pulling back and seeing all that loss for nothing.
Norman Dee
September 29th, 2009 11:56am Report this commentKinnock says this, Kinnock says that, who the hell cares what this lier has to say about anything ! The only thing he stands as a classical example of is "how to get very rich without ever having a real job", and don't start me on his pain in the arse wife!!!!!
In2minds
September 29th, 2009 11:57am Report this commentKinnock speaking up for Brown, cock an ear and you can hear the bottom of a barrel being scraped. However, this is not the same as a barrel of laughs is it?
The Bellman
September 29th, 2009 12:02pm Report this commentThe only people who say what a relaxed, funny guy Brown can be are those with a vested interest in keeping Labour in office. The almost universal opinion of people who have to work with him is that he's a nasty and vindictive bully. The streaks of self-pity now smeared over his not-so-private reputation makes the volatile bundle even less appealing.
Personally I couldn't give a rat's arse whether McSnotty is a hilarious, silver-tongued chocolatier in private. Frankly he could be the Roger Moore of chippy Scotch dictators. The point is he's a f***ing useless Prime Minister. Incompetent CEOs are not given a second (or twenty-third) chance because "they're a right laugh when you get to know them"; nor would you re-appoint a general who failed repeatedly to deliver campaign success and who got hundreds of his soldiers slaughtered because 'he's a proper card in the mess'.
He's an arrogant, incompetent, bullying, cowardly moral cretin. The rest - including the failing eyesight and horse tranquilisers - is X Factor-lite manipulative and sentimental cockwaffle.
Rhoda Klapp
September 29th, 2009 12:55pm Report this commentBellman, don't hold back.
EyeSee
September 29th, 2009 12:56pm Report this commentBrown: " You can say what you like about me, but one thing I am certain of is, er, no maybe not that but er......"
Boudicca
September 29th, 2009 12:58pm Report this commentPlease, please don't encourage Gordon to 'lighten up and tell jokes.' Remember that awful YouTube attempt to connect with the electorate over the need to modify MP's expenses (before the Telegraph revealed the truth about the fraudulent claims).
I can't remember any Minister, let alone a Prime Minister delivering such an atrocious, embarrassing, inept performance. The thought of Gordon going onstage in Brighton to deliver his idea of a populist, inspiring and amusing speech is too awful to contemplate.
Speedster
September 29th, 2009 1:14pm Report this commentGo on Gormless!
Give us all a laugh!
I for one can't wait to see this make or break speech this afternoon. With a bit of luck, it will be a combination of his "You Absolute Tube" foray into short film, and one of those arse cringing wedding speeches you hear. from a real knob of a relative (that everyone hates), who thinks they are a star.
Just off to get my popcorn .........
Hysteria
September 29th, 2009 1:19pm Report this commentBellman - don't prevaricate - what do you actually mean?
Moraymint
September 29th, 2009 1:32pm Report this commentThe Bellman ... it's time you got off the fence methinks.
The Bellman
September 29th, 2009 1:33pm Report this commentHmm. Maybe I *am* being unfair. Labour apparatchiks and their tame hacks are so unlike normal people, so out of touch with reality and so mired in the gesture politics and posturing of the 1980s junior common room, that maybe they think that this morose, brooding bundle of arrogance, self-pity, chippiness and venality REALLY IS a charming, lucid, witty, engaging and brave person. The psychological damage of twelve years shilling for this cohort of hectoring and pinch-faced bullies means that they actually think his constipated body language is evidence of firmness of purpose and strength of will; that his jokes about banks collapsing are hilarious; that it is perfectly appropriate for the British prime minister to chase the US president like a Donny Osmond fan through kitchens and alleys for a ten-second photo-op; that there's an obvious qualitative difference between 'boom and bust' and 'Tory boom and bust'. Maybe they genuinely cannot help it.
In which case, it would be kind, as well as deeply satisfying, if they are annihilated electorally for a generation.
Liz Brown
September 29th, 2009 1:39pm Report this commentoh goodee! Another fightback speech, speech of his life bollocks - it comes just in time for my afternoon nap...........
Tiberius
September 29th, 2009 2:03pm Report this commentYou were not being unfair, Bellman. In fact I think you rather understated the case.
Obama Beach
September 29th, 2009 2:59pm Report this commentThis must be one of the funniest threads we've ever had on Coffee House. Congratulations to Bellman, Liz Brown and everyone else for genuine laugh-out-loud comments.
old fogey
September 29th, 2009 5:22pm Report this commentDid anyone see the film on, I think, the BBC news last week of Brown going into the No 10 nerve centre and ingratiating himself with the staff there. It was quite obvious that they view him with disdain and could barely respond to his greetings or his conversation. The walls were unmarked though.
John Billot
September 29th, 2009 8:17pm Report this commentSo, Bruin is really Tommy Cooper in disguise! What a shock, who would have thought? What a cunning ploy, act like a total TW.T for 12 years and then when the tape hoves into view give a few magic tricks and a couple of one-liners and "knock their socks off".
I've got the remote on "Record" just in case.
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