It is not just the revelations about Gordon Brown’s bullying behaviour towards his staff which mark him out as a failed leader; it is his hypocrisy.
It is not just the revelations about Gordon Brown’s bullying behaviour towards his staff which mark him out as a failed leader; it is his hypocrisy. No government in history has committed itself so firmly to standing up for suffering employees and, as Rod Liddle points out on page 19, this noble aim has often resulted in overbearing legislation. We have had employment acts which make it an offence for a boss not to make allowance for people’s desire to pray at work, and laws which forbid firms from advertising for a ‘postboy’ on the grounds that it might discriminate against women and older people. We have had anti-bullying helplines and whistleblower schemes. Employers found by a tribunal to have failed to stop bullying face huge compensation payouts. And there is more to come: the government has made a priority before this parliament is out of passing Harriet Harman’s Equality Bill, which will place onerous new demands on employers; requiring them, for example, to carry out ‘equal pay audits’ to prove that they are not inadvertently discriminating against staff.
Yet for all this bossiness about bullying, the PM himself appears to see no reason to treat his own staff with respect. This week’s non-denial denials about his behaviour merely draw attention to the allegations which have not been refuted: the foul-mouthed shouting and the claim that he removed a secretary from her chair and took over at the keyboard because he considered she wasn’t typing fast enough. Brown’s inability to control himself in the office is worrying not just because it reflects badly on his character, but because it is symptomatic of a wider loss of control — not least of the public finances.
But Brown’s reported rages are not just the result of frustration in the dying days of his government. Gordon Brown has been a bully throughout his career, indeed it’s the secret of his political success. When he realised that he would not beat Tony Blair for the Labour leadership after the death of John Smith in 1994 he began a 13-year war of attrition against his rival. When finally he succeeded in driving Blair into retirement he made sure, using threats and intimidation, that he would face no opponents in the succession. He must know that he is himself now guilty of the same charge of which he accused Tony Blair: remaining in No. 10 long after it should have become obvious that he is an electoral liability. The irony is lost on him.
It is no credit to the other senior figures of the Labour party that they have tolerated Brown’s selfish ambition for so long. Junior staff at No. 10 can be forgiven for being intimidated by a shouting and surly boss, but the same does not apply to David Miliband, John Reid, Jack Straw and the other ministers who were in a position to stand against Gordon Brown for the leadership in 2007. Their cowardice then robs them of the right to complain now. For the past three years they have conducted a constant muttering campaign, but they had ten years to witness the former chancellor in office; they were all too familiar with the ‘psychological flaws’ identified by Peter Mandelson early in the life of the Labour government. And yet at a time when their party urgently needed a choice of leader, they did nothing.
Their failure to stand up to Gordon Brown in 2007 will cost the party dearly. That is something which has been recognised by James Purnell, the one minister who did (belatedly) resign from Mr Brown’s service and who last week acknowledged the game was up by announcing his retirement from parliament in favour of a career as a community organiser. That Gordon Brown deserves to be called a bully we have no doubt. But the sad truth is that, notwithstanding a wobbly poll or two, Labour is heading for heavy defeat because too many of his colleagues were supine.
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