Is Brown the heir to Blair?
Peter Hoskin 1:59pm
James Purnell's clearly trying to set some Stakhanovite record for delivering soundbites today. After the “full employment” claim on Marr this morning, he issues an even-more-startling declaration in today's Observer – that “Gordon Brown is clearly the heir to Blair”.
Whilst I'm sure Coffee-Housers will enjoy analysing which aspects of the Brown regime are a continuation of the Blair years, what Purnell's suggesting here is that Brown is developing the Blairite reform agenda. And – just like the full employment claim – this is patently false. Reform is being rolled back not forward – city academies are increasingly obliged to follow the national curriculum; funding for independent health centres is being cut back; and then there are new central targets in everything from housing to skills.
As I pointed out a few days ago, welfare is the only area in which reform is truly progressing. This progress will continue tomorrow, with Brown set to back a series of welfare reform proposals which the the Tories have already put their weight behind. So does this make Brown an inveterate reformer or a man playing political catch-up? Maybe we can draw a conclusion from the fact that these very same welfare proposals were blocked by the Treasury when Mr. Blair was in No 10...
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Comments
Oscar Miller
January 27th, 2008 3:26pmPurnell is shaping up to be just as slippery and prone to double-speak as his Photoshop escapade suggested he would be.
ExPat
January 27th, 2008 4:47pmBlair was the heir to Wilson. But Brown is no Callaghan.
Concerned
January 27th, 2008 5:30pmIf you need a really good laugh - have a look at this... http://www.stopunum.com/what-a-sick-joke/
mike
January 27th, 2008 6:52pmBlair was and is a wannabe celebrity, he cares for nothing but his own fame and fortune. Brown is a decent fellow and if given the chance could do well for us all.
Max Kaye
January 27th, 2008 7:21pmmike - what an inspirational defence of Brown: 'a decent fellow'. No he isn't. He's a dithering, lying, incompetent, meddling, control freak. Given the chance he'll be the downfall of us all.
Oscar Miller
January 27th, 2008 9:02pmBrown is the "decent fellow" who day in day out worked to topple the man in the top job so he could takeover by the back door. Political rivalry is one thing, but Brown stooped to every deceitful dirty trick in the book, working the media for his own ends to attack those he deemed to be his political enemies. For years he acted as a law of his own inside the government, requiring absolute loyalty from his band of followers. He is also subject to uncontrollable rages when he doesn't get his own way. Why do you think no-one dared stand against him for the leadership? Because they knew, in the words of Diane Abbott, they'd end up as "roadkill". This is all documented in numerous sources, from political allies as well as foes.
salieri
January 27th, 2008 9:47pmThat reconstructed photograph (of the trivial meeting Purnell was too late to attend) was wonderfully emblematic. One realised at once the huge potential for computer-generated government, especially when Purnell's credentials for the Arts portfolio (sorry, the Ministry of Football, Meejer and Slebrity)appeared to be that he still spoke English and had once attended a play. He clearly has a great future ahead of him and besides, as others have observed, his sycophantic comment is essentially true: McBean and his predecessor have the same tenuous links with reality and the same capacity for self-deception - the most dangerous form of deception of all.
Henry Rogers
January 27th, 2008 10:41pmI never thought I'd feel sorry for the Blairs. But spending ten whole years next door to our revered current PM must have been Hell. Actually it's Mrs B I feel most sorry for and I never thought I'd say that either.
oystercatcher
January 27th, 2008 11:13pmsorry mike - he's a nobody
Roy
January 28th, 2008 12:55amTheir both socialists, they both don't understand human behavioural patterns. Both have continued to lead Britain into a multicultural labyrinth. They play a game of placating the opposition, confusing the electorate, and disabling any and all opposition from the grass roots British public in their ability to say anything.
The Laughing Cavalier
January 28th, 2008 8:42amMr Purnell is capable of believing six impossible things before breakfast, which makes him highly qualified to be a Minister in a NuLabour government.
David Lindsay
January 28th, 2008 4:58pmWhy would anyone want to be the Heir to Blair?