Politics

Gordon Brown wants you to blame somebody—anybody—else for the rise in the price of fuel. So, this morning he takes to the pages of The Guardian for some OPEC-bashing hoping that aggrieved motorists will curse this cartel rather than Brown when they see how much it costs to fill their tank. Later today, Brown and Darling, who rumour suggests is rather fed up with his next door neighbour, will meet with oil industry chiefs in Aberdeen. As Michael Millar points out over on Trading Floor, nothing productive is likely to come out of this meeting. But Team Brown hopes that it will provide the public with someone else to blame

Jackie Ashley’s column in The Guardian today shows just how downhearted those who yearned for a Brown premiership now are. It is an admirably frank piece. One point in it, though, needs rebutting. Ashley rather dolefully writes that:    When one looks at the success and popularity of Boris Johnson in London, it seems obvious that Brownites underestimated the importance of style and swagger, certainly humour, in this celebrity and television-driven age. We thought people might find a non-flashy, dour, rather private man a refreshing change. We were mistaken. This view that somehow the public are to blame for wanting a celeb-PM doesn’t tally with the facts. The two biggest blows

There’s a seductive narrative emerging that places all the blame for Labour’s problems on Gordon Brown’s personal and presentational failings. It has obvious appeal to those Labour MPs who believe that if Brown would go all would be well and to our personality-driven media. But as Matt writes in The Sunday Telegraph, “It is certainly an epic delusion to imagine that the removal of Mr Brown and his instant replacement by A N Other would do the trick.” The truth is that Labour has been directionless for quite a while now. Tony Blair had towards the end of his premiership a clear idea of where he wanted to take the

There is a classic letter from Alistair Campbell in The Times today disputing Cherie Blair’s account in her book of how Campbell swore at her hairdresser.   Sir, Before “you’re only a f***ing hairdresser” replaces “we don’t do God” as my most quoted remark, could I make clear that while I did say “we don’t do God” to an American magazine journalist, I have never described Andre Suard as “only a f***ing hairdresser” to anyone. There are other direct quotations attributed to me in your recent serialisation of Cherie Blair’s book which were not accurate, but this is the one I would like to deny, not least since it goes