New Labour’s psychodrama went global

Alex

Brown was unsuitable to be PM!

Obvious to ALL.

yank

"You're just sort of a bigoted fellow, aren't you, Mr. Blackburn?

And so's Blair, and Bush, and the Chinese Embassy guy who had Cameron show up to sign the guest book after me, and that terrible bigoted haus frau who assaulted me on the streets, plus the sound guys in the truck, and Condi Rice, and Milliband... he was Wayne Rooneying himself all up in my face... every bloody day... the little snot.

But I'll have my revenge. Drip, drip, drip. 15 pages per day... for months now... and you'll soon see every jot and tittle, as I expose this hulking conspiracy for what it is."

ollie

Brown is unsuitable as a human being, let alone a PM. I don't think I've ever seen a person so unsuited for a task as Brown was.

Labour still won't exorcise his ghost - it's going to cost them in the long term.

Slow news day?

Cast in infamy again. Hectoring. Heavyhanded. Delivered as facts by the oracle (who are you?) as if graven on stone. Oh please. Have you not noticed that that bandwagon left town a long time ago?
You sound like an unfunny version of Marcus Brigstocke. And he's not even funny.

Barry Bilge

I am by no means a fan of Brown but methinks the crucial part is:

"Mr Brown eventually became prime minister in June 2007 and pursued a foreign policy that was far more independent of America than Mr Blair’s had been."

As wrongheaded, pigheaded, deaf to advice and incompetent as Brown is and was (especially as Chancellor) the US administration getting concerned that he was not in their pocket is hardly a badge of dishonour.

Mark Cannon

Agreed that even an idiot could see that Brown would be a disaster, but Brown will use the specific context - Africa and aid - to promote his attempted revival as shadow minister for international development. The government should make this a non-cabinet post asap.

Verity

He looks like a psycho in denial. I mean, that man is one scary movie.

Daragh McDowell

Actually, it shows how contemptuous Bush and his cronies were of his supposed 'allies.' Look whatever the merits of Brown as PM (god knows I think he was awful) the reality is that it is hugely inappropriate for an American president to try and influence who the British Prime Minister is. Bush should have stayed out of it, and if Blair had had an ounce of spine he would have told Bush it was none of his business. Simples.

Amanda Has Alligators

Bush wasn't as thick as he looked?

I didn't think he looked thick at all. When I saw him at a Chicago rally in 2000, I thought he was rather dishy, in fact. But then, unlike my good friend Dangly McDowner, I was a fan: and I think that 'misunderestimate' is a memorable, charming neologism. Just sayin'.

Wilhelm

Gordon Broon wants to save Africa, talk about delusional.

He should be sectioned under the mental health act.

porkbelly

"Interfering with an ally's internal politics" by informing that ally's leader that his subordinate was behaving like a nutjob? Perhaps he should have kept it a secret? It's not as if Brown made any secret of his preferences in the subsequent American election...

Roger Davies

I disagree who is PM of the UK is of great interest to the USA and it is the duty of the President to influence such a choice, if able, to the benefit of his country. To claim otherwise is not Real Politik. Unfortunately the New Labour, Next Labour or is it the Last Labour Party never had the interests of the UK on it's agenda.

Pat

Brown was right. It did 'start in America' and shows that despite being lambasted as less than endowed with brains, George Bush was an amazing judge of character.

If only poodle Blair had acted against Brown with the same vigour as he did with Bush's order to go to war, this wonderful Nation would have been spared from the worst PM known to man: Brown the Contemptuous.

Chuck Unsworth

@ Daragh McDowell

"the reality is that it is hugely inappropriate for an American president to try and influence who the British Prime Minister is"

Well that may be so - whatever 'inappropriate' may actually mean - however both America and damn nearly every other country attempts such influences where they can. Look at what goes on in the EU.

It's called The National Interest, and is supposed to be largely the province of the Diplomatic Service, but recent Prime Ministers and Presidents have occasionally seen personal political advantage in pursuing it.

charles hercock

This is the usual anti American hysteria.Blair held on for the oldest of reasons-fear of not being important

Dirty Euro returns from the dead

So what! Bush was a rubbish president.
Well done.
How on earth does it make sense to get worked up over a rubbish USA regime not getting to choose the UK PM.
Scotland 1 USA and ENGLAND 0
Beat that !
How many englishmen could stand up to the USA beat that woosy boys.
Who needs some English oxbridge stooge of the USA in power?
Oviouyskt that is what the Southern English like in a leader someone who rolls over for the USA. Pathetic.
I guess this means there only two superpowers left Scotland and Scotland.

Don

DEs, you would be well advised to go back to bed and sleep it off.

Norman Dee

Dicky of york missing again, either not working at our expense again today, or actually does know when not to appear.

Tarka the Rotter

'inappropriate' is the favourite word of the New Labour bansturbators and, by that very nature, itself inappropriate.

anne allan

Amanda Has Alligators - they all sniggered at Haig's (?) neologism; simplistic. Since then, I've seen and heard it used by people who are well-versed in the English language.
And without wishing to sound like Sarah Palin, Shakespeare did invent many neologisms; presumably the Tudor audiences had no problem with that.

Daragh McDowell

@Tarka

I'm not Labour - new or otherwise. But I don't remember Blair getting involved with either the Republican or Democratic primaries, nor would it have been *ahem* appropriate for him to do so. Indeed had he privately interfered or publicly commented, there would have been a fairly large media shit-storm, and virtually every politician in the US would have told him in no uncertain terms to stay the hell out of their affairs.

Paddy

I would like to ask Blair why he 'lumbered' us with Brown?

The 'whole motley' crew including Mandelson and Campbell knew about Brown's total incompetence and unsuitability to be anything but a 'back-room' boy.

What did the British public do to deserve Brown.

Fex Urbis

Is this really surprising news, remember the Man of Straw displeased his US masters and was swiftly removed by Mr Tony.

I guess once a poodle always a poodle.

Verity

Ollie hits the nail on the head: "I don't think I've ever seen a person so unsuited for a task as Brown was."

Direct and correct. From being prime minister to boiling an egg, Brown is not up to the task.

Verity

Daragh McDowell, leaving aside that people who say "simples" are seldom sophisticated thinkers, George Bush, as the elected President of the United States, was perfectly correct to try to influence another head of government in the service of the wellbeing of his own country.

Verity

Amanda Has Alligators, Snap.

Bush is dishy, has a subtle and entertaining sense of humour and I am record on these very pages, right here, of saying that 'misunderestimated' is one of the most entertaining, and useful, neologisms of this century.

JohnAnt

Why shouldn't Bush express his concern about Brown? He knew that no-one - least of all the British voters - was going to be consulted on the matter, and the only one who wanted Brown to be PM was Brown himself.

Verity

Anne Allen - "Simplistic" is a neoglogism? Who knew? It's a word I´ve heard from childhood.

I apologise for posting like a rash, but under The Speccie's clanking early C17th posting system, it is not possible to move back and forth among the comments.

yank

Daragh McDowell: "I'm not Labour - new or otherwise. But I don't remember Blair getting involved with either the Republican or Democratic primaries, nor would it have been *ahem* appropriate for him to do so. Indeed had he privately interfered or publicly commented, there would have been a fairly large media shit-storm, and virtually every politician in the US would have told him in no uncertain terms to stay the hell out of their affairs."

.

.

Ms. McDowell, perhaps you're not Labor, so then presuming you to be Tory, you can then absorb Maggie's successor's interference in the 1992 US presidential election, and Clinton's follow-on hostility, which some say included some shenanigans re N. Ireland.

And Blair did play a little footsie over here with the opposition during the last decade, fyi. Would you have expected anything different from this particular man? Truly, would you?

It has been forever so, so no sense acting shocked about it. Washington, D.C. has been a nest of Brit spies for a couple centuries now, and I'm sure London no different at our end. Plenty of reading will document this, so don't be shocked here either.

We are "involved" at all levels, including the tops of our body politics. Best to stick to our own. If Brown sucked, he sucked for you, no matter what Bush thinks, and on those terms alone is it productive reviewing.

Verity

Re Yank's post of 3:32 ... gosh I wonder what he meant be that ...

The Cat Anan

Re that photo of Brown accompanying this post: If, on a crowded train, you saw an empty seat next to this man, would you sit in it?

old fogey

One of the contributors refers to Jack Straw's career taking a blow because he upset the Americans. Is there any truth in the story/ rumour that pressure was put on Blair ( by the Bush administarion)to remove Straw from the Foreign Office because the very high Islamic vote (about 30%) in his constituency would make him susceptible to pro moslem pressure?

Tankus

In 30 years time , Brown will be seen and still remembered as Blairs greatest political failure , It wont be Iraq, as our children will still be paying (literally)for Browns fiscal incontinence ..

We should have a brown labour debt tax for the next half century or more !, to get the national debit down to manageable proportions , What he did to us was just not cricket.

Amanda Has Alligators

Verity:

Re Bush as hot date with sense of humour and that certain linguistic je ne sais quoi:
We must be twins separated at birth!

TGF UKIP

This was obviously relayed to Blair in strictest confidence and the fact that it has emerged at all just demonstrates again what an utter shit Blair was, is and always will be.

Daragh McDowell

@Verity - its a long standing principle of proper diplomatic relations that one does not interfere in the domestic politics of one's allies and partners (or indeed any state with which one is not directly at war) - eg who leads the Labour party and becomes Prime Minister. It is, in fact, perhaps the most basic founding principle of diplomacy, and Bush was (as always) in the wrong here. As for your opinions on my thought processes I care not a whit.

@Yank - Its Mr. McDowell, if you please, and no I'm not a Tory either. The fact that Clinton was hostile to Major after the latter tried to influence the US election in Bush Sr.'s favour just emphasises my point - it was a slap in the face to proper conduct and/because it spoiled the Anglo-American relationship for a good five years. As for Clinton's shenanigans in NI - I'm a paddy and I've heard nothing about it. In fact Slick Willy, whatever his flaws, did the Lord's work up north as far as me an my countrymen are concerned.

Not sure about Blair playing footsie with the Democrats. He certainly admired Clintonian triangulation, and of course Labour and the Dems pow-wowed with one another (as political parties, not governing concerns) but I don't recall him having any particular enthusiasm for the Donkeys. If anything his comments during the 2008 election were subtly pro-McCain.

As for spies - not shocked in the least, but there's very little in the way of direct interference in electoral affairs. And what we're talking about is a head-of-state lobbying his alternate in order to directly influence the timing and identity of the succession/successor. That's a no-no no matter how you slice it.

Verity

Daragh McDowell writes: "@Yank - Its Mr. McDowell, if you please, and no I'm not a Tory either." NSS!

By the way Mr McDowell, it's "it's" not "its".

Daragh McDowell

Wow Verity. You've managed to catch me making a minor typographical error in a rather hastily written blog comment. Was that the high point of your day?

yank

No, Mr. McDowell, your naive protestations to the contrary, this sorta business is a constant. These 2 nations will intrigue, and it has always been so. Major's clumsiness just happened to be exposed, but that's not even the 1/2 of it, historically.

As someone mentioned above, this latest is simply more of the great man's folly. Remember, Tony held the messiah franchise long before anybody heard of Barry Obama. He'll cover his ass somehow, even if he has to mouth intimacies like this, which have been quietly going on forever, shocking as you seem to think they are.

And yes, Billy Jeff brought Gerry Adams into the White House directly as a result of Major's clumsiness. It was a direct and deliberate slap, and I highly doubt it would have ever happened otherwise. In fact, you should expect another direct and deliberate slap in the near future, based upon the Libyan's mysterious release. These things are inevitable, and no sense whining about them, or decrying them as ahistorical, because they comport quite well with some centuries of history.

The whole point is to cover your tracks, and both Major and Blair clearly haven't done so, and Blair is seemingly and strangely working to shine light on his own tracks.

You all may want to clip this guy close. Blair has never known a word better left unspoken, and nothing good will come from a blowhard like this.

Simon Stephenson

Paddy : 1.24pm

"What did the British public do to deserve Brown."

Well, amongst a number of other abdications of responsibility for selecting our own leadership, what stands out is voting three times consecutively to put in government a party that had neither the will nor the process to prevent the calamity of Gordon Brown becoming Chancellor, and, later, Prime Minister.

We deserved Brown because we neglected to ensure that the system of preference in use was robust enough to filter out people so obviously unsuited as he - it's as simple as that.

Daragh McDowell

@Yank - I've spent the last decade of my life studying International Relations and foreign policy in general. I'm not naieve as to the brass tacks of dirty tricks and undercover ops. But I also know that there are certain lines that one doesn't cross, and this is one of those cases.

PS - Gerry Adams' invite a direct slap to Major? Please... There were a number of domestic political factors that were far more important in determining that little visit. Not to mention that Albert Reynolds and others were already reaching out to Sinn Fein with American help and mediation.

Verity

In response to Yank's well written post, Daragh McDowell writes, "I'm not naieve"... You're not a speller, either.

And why do you capitalise International Relations? Is it the name of a 10-year course?

Dennis Churchill

So Brown was less like an Agent of Influence than Blair? Maybe the next leader of the Labour party will be a better asset to the US or some other country than Brown.
We can’t have our leaders working exclusively in our interests can we?

Malcolm Dunn

Verity, are all your contributions as stupid as those on this thread?
Whilst I thought Clinton's behaviour with Gerry Adams was a complete disgrace,Mr Mcdowell's other points make perfect sense to me. If you don't agree say why not rather than making trite little attacks on his spelling and grammar.

Richard of Moscow

So, George Bush preferred a bootlicking Scottish muppet to a whining Scottish muppet. Shocking news indeed

maddy

Wilhelm
August 29th, 2010 2:26am

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Gordon Broon wants to save Africa, talk about delusional.

He should be sectioned under the mental health act.

Of course he should Wilhelm, but like Caligua's Horse he was made Vice Consul or PM or something ! The sad thing is that at a basic level Brown would never have got on with the corrupt Portuguese Speaking elite of Maputo who he proimised to bankroll recently, like the big Don!