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Michael Henderson

Michael Henderson suggests


Brown's dilemma

Tuesday, 19th June 2007

I have a piece in today's Wall Street Journal Europe about Gordon Brown's dilemma over the outcome of this week's EU Summit:

Politics, a long-deceased British statesman once said, is the art of the possible. For Gordon Brown, who takes over as the U.K.'s prime minister on June 27, politics is going to be the art of the impossible.

Imminently, Mr. Brown will be faced with an intractable dilemma. Call it a treaty, call it a constitution, call it a series of amendments to existing treaties, but something is going to emerge from this week's European Union summit. And how Mr. Brown reacts to that document will decide his political future. But whatever he does will be the wrong decision.

...There are only two choices open to him. Either will be disastrous.

I think the link is subscription only, but this it it. 

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Disraeli's ghost

June 19th, 2007 10:18am

I thought politics is the art of possible was a Metternich quote

Stephen Pollard

June 19th, 2007 12:29pm

It seems we're both wrong. I thought it was RA Butler, based on his (terrific) autobiography. But googling it, it seems it has been wrongly attributed to him and it's actually Bismark's phrase.

Tony

June 22nd, 2007 8:58am

After reading this article (on your archive blog) I had a very wry smile on my face.

Let's see Macavity wangle his way out of this one!

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