Is Brown embracing wiki-politics?
Matthew d'Ancona 12:19pm
Well, well. I have just watched Gordon Brown deliver a speech on the global economy and the web at the Google Zeitgeist forum at The Grove hotel. Someone has definitely put something in the PM's tea, because this was a very different Gordon to the testy, embattled figure of the past few weeks.
Confident, relaxed and witty, he delivered his speech without notes, pacing the stage and playing the audience at this excellent event.
Instead of lecturing them - the cream of the new media world - he praised them for their part in the 'biggest re-structuring of the global economy we have seen in our history.' He urged them, in troubled times, when the popular clamour for protectionist measures will inevitably grow, to be resolute, patient advocates for free trade and globalisation.
In the questions afterwards, he leant back in his chair and roared with laughter when asked about Britain joining the euro. I asked him what lessons there were for the political class to learn from the web revolution and the rise of what Don Tapscott calls the 'Net Generation': disdainful of hierarchy, free of deference, taking their cue from 'peer-to-peer recommendation' rather than the instruction of elites.
Gordon's answer was unequivocal: 'people power will become an explosive force in history'. Social networking and blogging would give the public the 'power directly to influence change'. Even foreign policy, he suggested, would be affected: if Rwanda happened today, he said, the images and stories dispersed on the web would make it impossible for the international community not to intervene. Indeed, the challenge in this era of 'direct people power' was for global institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the UN to match this growth of a global demos on the web.
So - believe it or not - the great practitioner of Treasury command-and-control finally declared: 'I believe in the wisdom of crowds'. We'll see if words are matched by action, especially in public service reform and the true devolution of power to neighbourhoods rather than simply to town halls.
But this was a start for those of us who have been urging the PM to embrace the new world of wiki-politics and the cultural revolution of Web 2.0. More immediately: whoever has been coaching Gordon on his delivery is on to something (you'll be able to see his performance on YouTube shortly). This is precisely how he should give his speech at what will probably be a make-or-break speech at the Labour conference in September. Perhaps he really is listening and learning.
Previous
Comments
Leon
May 19th, 2008 12:38pm"More immediately: whoever has been coaching Gordon on his delivery is on to something (you'll be able to see his performance on YouTube shortly)."
Agreed, I was quite struck by how normal he came across. If this is the beginning of a new Brown then Labours woes won't last for too long...
Trumpeter Lanfried
May 19th, 2008 12:44pmOoo-er!
Chuck Unsworth
May 19th, 2008 12:52pmEven if he is "listening and learning" he's a very, very, late developer. Far too late for many, and far too late to do much about The Economy. And why should we all have to suffer on his 'learning curve'?
Even with the best will in the world, these (his) superficial changes will be regarded as just that. No one in their right minds would believe after a decade of his awful behaviour and mismanagement that he's suddenly changed his entire view of the world and gained vast economic competence.
He has, simply, been found out. Now, too late, comes the cosmetic.
EyeSee
May 19th, 2008 1:01pmI would be tempted to believe the article if someone other than Mat had written it. I don't generally read his output as it is too New Labour leaning for it to have any meaning in the real world.
TrevorH
May 19th, 2008 1:04pmCosmetics cannot hide the nature of the economy, the high taxes the high government debt the declining revenues.
It comes to something if you have to react in surprise that the PM looks normal.
Tiberius
May 19th, 2008 1:14pmHe's obviously planned his retirement over the weekend.
Nicholas
May 19th, 2008 1:16pm"Confident, relaxed and witty, he delivered his speech without notes, pacing the stage and playing the audience at this excellent event."
Exactly as David Cameron did last year (2007). It is an imitation. An act. A front created by his vast army of spin doctors and Propaganda Kompanie men in direct response to Cameron's popularity. Everything this man does is about party politics and the Gordon Brown personality cult. The only thing in the box is poor imitation of the opposition which only proves the opposition are getting it right.
Water
May 19th, 2008 1:18pmUnsworth is right. After all the mistakes that have been made I for one am certainly not going to believe "he's suddenly changed his entire view of the world and gained vast economic competence."
Hereford
May 19th, 2008 1:29pm"if Rwanda happened today, he said, the images and stories dispersed on the web would make it impossible for the international community not to intervene." Oh Please! Try to be more incisive. One well rehearsed show and you want to kiss his backside. Rwanda is happening, in Zimbabwe, Burma and many other points around the globe. The blogsphere, admirable as it is has little or no effect on Government thinking. Witness the blogosphere exposure of fabrication of news in the Middle East. What results have you seen from that? Only when self righteous hectoring pop stars get their coloured armbands out do Governments react. And then only to pat them on the head and try to look cool beside them. And what makes you so sure this Gordon is the real Gordon. This man is so covered in facades that you would have to peel the proverbial onion down to the vacuum in the centre to see the real Gordon.
David
May 19th, 2008 1:30pmSorry, but if he was really embracing this field he'd at least allow comments on the YouTube page. And I seem to recall he gave a similar speech some months ago - no notes, more casual etc, and it went down well. The change didn't last though.
aloicius
May 19th, 2008 1:33pmSo GB does better in front of a neutral audience on a topic where he can pretend to have (someone else's) modern vision. Big Deal!
Unfortunately for him it's elsewhere that it matters: it is a different PM when he has to explain to the electorate why he has squandered a decade of prosperity and Britain is falling behind on all measures.
Ted Tedford
May 19th, 2008 1:37pmRwanda couldn't happen today? We know Mr Brown is basically uninterested in foreign policy, but surely even he is not so naive as to think that.
And I'm not sue if it's your choice of words or his, but surely blogging *has* influenced events: it was bloggers that exposed Rathergate, and the web that brought Revd Wright to prominence.
Bernard from Horsham
May 19th, 2008 2:02pmConfident witty and relaxed. Are you sure you're not on something ?????? In any event, everyone knows what Gordo is like. A new image won't do any good at all. No-one will believe it.
Dave B
May 19th, 2008 2:30pmI haven't seen this speech, but surely the whole thing screams panic?
Mr Brown speaks without notes, because he was unfavourably contrasted with Mr Cameron speaking without notes. Now he speaks at Google Zeitgeist ... as Mr Cameron did.
Oldtimer
May 19th, 2008 3:23pmMatthew, you said: "So - believe it or not - the great practitioner of Treasury command-and-control finally declared: 'I believe in the wisdom of crowds'.
Those were the words, but the action last year was to duck the election we were all told to expect. I think that GB only believes in the wisdom of GB.
Won't Get Fooled Again
May 19th, 2008 4:46pm"Even foreign policy, he suggested, would be affected: if Rwanda happened today, he said, the images and stories dispersed on the web would make it impossible for the international community not to intervene."
Er, what about Darfur?
Ian C
May 19th, 2008 5:51pmHereford - nail on head and wittily put.
I doubt he'll be noteless on Wednesday at PMQ's!
Cromwell
May 19th, 2008 7:19pmIs this a Nu Labour website?
Frank Pulley
May 20th, 2008 1:46amHereward The Awake I presume. Great post!
I simply cannot believe, sometimes, the credulity of the Editor of this magazine. Or were you just name dropping Matthew, just to get your exchange with him into print? Just as well you weren't editor from 1939 - 45, I suspect you would have rustled up a little puff for Herr Shicklgruber in the cause of objectivity.
Frank Pulley
May 20th, 2008 1:54amSorry Hereford, I screwed up that weak pun: it should have read Hereford the Awake.
Submariner
May 20th, 2008 7:31amAstonishing. He hasn't do that well for years, if ever. he's had lots of coaching before and it's never done any good. Something may have changed inside him. Perhaps he's resigned himself to the fact that it's all over, and no longer cares. I've seen this before: sometimes in accepting the reality defeat, people relax and become vastly better performers than when they felt they had lots to lose. If he's already decided to hand in the keys after losing C&N, this is what I'd expect to see.
Dave H.
May 20th, 2008 11:14am57 year old males can't change their personalities. You should not be surprised that a professional greasy pole climber can put in a compelling performance occasionally.
He is both an intelligent, skilled high-achiever and far too much of a weirdo to be PM. Just about everyone knows this intuitively, even if they can't quite put their finger on what's wrong with him.