Brown the Reformer: er, good luck with that
Peter Hoskin 12:24pm
Brace yourselves. According to the Guardian, Brown is about to sell himself as a Great Reformer:
"Brown, the cabinet sources say, decided in the past few weeks to adopt a tougher pro-public sector reform stance, in order that his defence of the state in the face of recent attacks on big government by David Cameron does not become confused with complacency about the current performance of the public sector."
Despite the sensibleness of the reform argument, I can't imagine that Brown will make much headway with this. For starters, he has that "Roadblock to Reform" label, and Labour's patchy record on public service reform, hovering over him like the proverbial albatross. And, then, you imagine he won't want to go too far with it all, from fear of upsetting Labour's increasingly dominant union paymasters. Finally, there's the simple fact that the Tories have a superior reform package on offer - albeit mainly because of Gove's Swedish Schools agenda.
Re-reading George Osborne's reform-heavy "progressive" speech from a few months back, it's also clear that the Tories have their counterarguments on this primed and ready to lob in Brown's direction. You can expect to hear plenty of them in the next few months.
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Sally Chatterjee
October 17th, 2009 12:38pm Report this commentAnother day, another relaunch! He gets relaunched more often than an RNLI coastguard boat.
strapworld
October 17th, 2009 12:51pm Report this commentBrown, who saved the world, saved the pound, saved the third world, saved the poor,raised educational standards, improved the NHS,gave us more police,more civil servants,more doctors, nurses, vets,managers, quango's and gave his MP's more expenses whilst taking more than his share!
Brown who has had four or is it six re-launches. Who has never given us his dastardly plan, is now going to become Brown the Reformer.
Is that a political or an ecclesiastical/presbyetarian reforming act?
For a proven incompetent and liar. This is going to be a laugh.
I will give it two days.
Thomas Cussans
October 17th, 2009 1:27pm Report this commentHere we go. Another panicked fight-back/relaunch.
I don't doubt it will be every bit as effective as his initiative on plastic bags.
Nicholas
October 17th, 2009 1:48pm Report this commentHow many re-inventions, fightbacks and initiatives is this egomaniac going to be allowed to indulge in during the rapidly shrinking darkness before dawn?
The media should be howling with laughter at these pathetic attempts to deter the inevitable slaughter at the polls.
The most important and only thing we want to hear from Brown now is the date of the General Election.
John Moss
October 17th, 2009 2:36pm Report this commentIt's too late.
HIGNFY last night was full, not of bile and anger, but ridicule and even pity for Brown.
When you have plumbed that depth, you're finished. No matter how good you plans for reform or how string the economic recovery, the world has made up its mind - just ask John Major!
mitch
October 17th, 2009 2:52pm Report this commentDidn't Blair try this lark and Brown thwart him at every turn?.
Liz Brown
October 17th, 2009 3:03pm Report this commentOh God!
JohnAnt
October 17th, 2009 3:11pm Report this commentA useful occupation for Gordon Brown has finally been discovered:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/6346801/Performance-art-group-Bodies-in-Urban-Spaces-set-up-human-sculptures-across-London.html?image=3
Noa Zrk
October 17th, 2009 3:28pm Report this commentGreat and apposite photo accompanying this article. Looks like Gordon is reaching up for the chain, just another flush in the pan...
Alan Phillips
October 17th, 2009 3:40pm Report this commentHe has unwrapped more reforms than the proverbial 'pass the parcel' starting with a bus sized parcel and its now the size of a KitKat, two finger variety of course...
David Ossitt
October 17th, 2009 3:41pm Report this comment“According to the Guardian, Brown is about to sell himself as a Great Reformer”
Superb; absolutely fantastic, he must be given every encouragement in his endeavours.
The public ‘Brown Loathing Barometer’ shows that each of these re-launches has an effect directly opposite to the one that Brown had intended.
He is; of course, quite insane, as mad as the proverbial hatter.
Any Colour but Brown
October 17th, 2009 3:46pm Report this commentBrown must be one of the greatest reformers in history. He has taken a once great nation and turned into something a third-world banana republic would be ashamed of.
jon dee
October 17th, 2009 4:30pm Report this commentJust as Brown was advised to change tack on his ludicrous " invest" line, his cronies now warn him that his six million strong public-sector workforce is still growing and is out of control.
Worse still, the electorate are aware of it because those naughty Tories have been telling the truth again about how much it's costing when theres nothing left in the piggy-bank.
Cue Mandy and the spin-fibbers, with more useless, headline grabbing initiatives spewing out oft repeated half-truths and fairy tales.
Thats the way to do it, we should know by now.
Freddie Mercury
October 17th, 2009 5:25pm Report this commentOh yes, I'm the great pretender....
rory stamp
October 17th, 2009 7:25pm Report this commentIn reply to the first comment, there's no such thing as an 'RNLI coastguard boat'. The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea through lifeboats crewed mostly by volunteers. The coastguard is run and funded by HM Government and requests the launch of RNLI lifeboats - which launched more than 8,000 times in 2008. More times than the PM.
Malcolm
October 18th, 2009 10:04am Report this comment"Brown must be one of the greatest reformers in history. He has taken a once great nation and turned into something a third-world banana republic would be ashamed of."
Well said, couldn't have put it better myself.
His 43rd relaunch will go the same way as all the rest - a sort-lived couple of days of frenetic but utterly pointless activity. The ego and self-delusion of this lunatic is beyond belief. Just go!
Frank Leader
October 18th, 2009 11:09am Report this commentEvery village has an idiot, fortunately most of them do no become Chancellor or Prime Minister.
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