Brown v Blair: a comedy

charles hercock

It would be comical if it were not serious.Is this mans finger on the nuclear trigger?

Publius

From Guido, a gem:

“In the middle of the coup, the former welfare minister Frank Field went to No 10 to plead with Blair not to give way to Brown. “You can’t go yet. You can’t let Mrs Rochester out of the attic,” he said. Blair roared with laughter.”
- Andrew Rawnsley

Austin Barry

I hope Brown didn't carry on like this when he vacationed on the louche beaches of Provincetown.

The shrill absurdity of his rage would have lead to a deafening chorus of "Oooooo, get her.." from the sun-bathing coterie of bronzed Ganymedes.

Bert

How do you get a Prime Minister sectioned? It would be for the common good.

Stepney

The real juicy morsel from this account is this one:

"In the middle of the coup, the former welfare minister Frank Field went to No 10 to plead with Blair not to give way to Brown. "You can't go yet. You can't let Mrs Rochester out of the attic," he said.

Rawnsley writes: "Blair roared with laughter."

Mrs Rochester! And now we see it was closer to the truth than even Field could have imagined.

AndyinBrum

So, is it the Speccies opinion that Rawnsley's book is true?

Also how does claiming that allegations are Historic, mean they're not true?

chris

Should you laugh or cry at the fact that Brown is in fact the PM?
Ah, for a Shakespeare of our age to mine all the absurdity of this situation!

addenough

Alleged comment by Frank Field when he implored Blair to stay : "Don't let Mrs Rochester out of the attic!". Seems to sum it up!

Casual Observer

A comedy indeed.
And Mrs. Rochester is well and truly out of the attic. Doing the right thing.

Is this soap opera or pantomime?
If there was an ounce of shame amongst them, they'd disappear. All of them.

charles hercock

Dear Bert
Only worth sectioning if there is treatable disease-psychopathy is untreatable

strapworld

"This is historic and untrue' a Downing Street source said!! It is either one or the other, surely?

Historic is surely Based on or concerned with events in history. Presumably those events occurred. I am confused. But, perhaps, it was because of the delicious thought of a British Tea Party suddenly storming throiugh to victory in the forthcoming general election with Daniel at the helm!!

TrevorsDen

In fact Rawnsley's allegations have been shown to be true.

toco

The dysfunctional and increasingly erratic Gordon Brown is a total loose cannon as revelations have dramatically proved over the last 12 months and it has become abundantly clear there is now no possibility of his winning the next election.The problem is how much more damage will he inflict on all of us before that election.His scorched earth policy is the only one he has and it is extremely dangerous and damaging.If there were a few senior Labour politicians who could put an end to his reckless premiership I am sure the Labour Party itself would benefit.Alas this would appear not to be the case.

Tiberius

Well, as it's been a long time since George III strutted his stuff, I suppose we were due another nutter running these sceptred isles.

That the Labour party could acquiesce in Brown assuming high office is yet another reason to declare that it is not fit ever to govern the country. When you also consider Prescott was DPM for so long, you can do no more than wave your fist heavenwards, Basil Fawlty style, and shout "thank you, God!"

Rachael

Never mind 24 carat sources.

What we have here is a 24 carat fruitcake.

Vulture

The sheer piquancy of the Stalinist loon ringing Blair at Balmoral (!) and accusing him of 'Trotskyism' surpasses all satire.

He's fit to be tied.

Lord Monkington-Smythe

I still worry that even after this melange of lies has been exposed, with thw bunker lying about the lies they have previously told, the thicker element of the electorate (possibly the majority) will still say "Oooh, but Sarah's nice, let's vote Labour!"

Can someone please assure me that this won't happen. The idea is really disturbing.

General Zod

The mere fact that he referred to "trotskyism" is further evidence that Brown's entire political motivation has not matured since he started at university.

GoodbyeGordon

No surprise that the spokesman for No 10 doesn't know the difference between 'Historic' and 'Historical'. The last thing they would want is for these revelations to be described as 'Historic'. I hope Gordon doesn't own an Oxford English dictionary or the poor sod who put out this statement will probably have a job retrieving it!!

Joe Mooney

Reference bullyingate. Great line in the times today.

It is not the regin of teror that bother me. Its the ( Browns )regin of error.

pete-s

The comment fron Frank Field, shows the common knowledge that Brown is barking mad. That has not caused many in the Labour party to rid us of this mad man. They have left us to our fate, which is pretty dire.

One Hung Low

Laugh?!
I nearly had an election!

inigo jones

We have a wise and experienced Lady serving as our Head of State. Surely the time has come for Her Majesty to exercise her constitutional role and to call for the dissolution of this discredited Parliament? The longer this farce is allowed to continue, the more damage is being done to this once proud and great Nation.

Rosencrantz

Iain Dale is hinting that there is more to come, when Peter Killfoyle's book comes out in a couple of weeks:

"So, my old mate Peter Kilfoyle has announced that he is the 143rd MP to make an exit from the House of Commons at the next election. He has been MP for Liverpool Walton since 1991 and is perhaps most famous as the scourge of Militant on Merseyside.

As luck would have it, I am publishing Peter Kilfoyle's new book in a couple of weeks. Timing, eh?

In the book he charts the rise and fall of New Labour. It's laced with juicy anecdote and analysis. And the last chapter. Well, suffice to say it is worth reading."

cityboozer

Stepney. It is extremely amusing though I don't for a minute believe that Blair actually understood the reference.

Frank P

charles hercock

"It would be comical if it were not serious.Is this mans finger on the nuclear trigger?"

Don't worry, Chuck, despite his hissy fits, the limp wrist beneath the finger on the nuclear trigger, hasn't got enough flutter in it to activate it. Anyway, the strongest of our potential enemies are his friggin' friends - and finally he hasn't got the balls, even if they weren't, and it became necessary.

AndyinBrum

Anyone see that Telegraph article over Labour planning to smear Mrs Call me Dave? I can't work out whether it's:

a) bollocks;
b) an attempt to keep labour from smearing Mrs Cameron; or
c) the truth

the mole

he meant to say " this is histrionic and untrue "- rather freudian really in that it sums up brown perfectly.

Ken

Rawnsley's been doing some news clipping on this one, the Mail had set it all out plain as a pikestaff way back in February 2007.
http://tinyurl.com/yaokzhj

Natasha

AndyinBrum - it isn't clear if you are referring to David Cameron (a male) or his wife, Samantha (a female). As a result, your comment is unintelligible. If you are referring to David, why mis-attribute his gender? If it is Samantha you are referring to, why not use her forename?

Novalis

If anyone from Cameron's team is reading this please can the following be used in next weeks PMQs.

' The economic and social policies of the last 13 years have ruined many peoples lives. Can the Prime Minister confirm that his predecessor's actions ruined his life too?'

seb

The assault on the already tattered reputation of Kirkcaldy's Leading Autist must have a thought-out strategy guiding it. It's not just Rawnsley flogging a book. There must be something afoot involving the Grauniad, various journalists, exiled or retired Blairites and current members of the cabinet and the PLP. Perhaps the plotters want to get Brown to resign or to go [certifiably] bonkers. Perhaps they're preparing a final but successful cabinet coup and are hoping this can be pulled off before the election. The Grauniad/Observer's real motives in this are at present very opaque.

kein

doesn't brown and co you can't argue with people who buy ink by the barrel.it's an old saying which is still in regular use because it's TRUE.so when your in a HOLE stop digging and if you know a better hole get on your toes.

snarkiblogfast

Say what you like about Bertha, at least she didn't saddle every family in Britain with £31K of debt.
Such are the tender endearments that solace our leisure hours.