Monday, January 26, 2009
The Last Days of Brown
On the subject of Brown, his Hal-like responses in the Evan Davis interview on Friday seem to have launched a widespread acceptance that he is a)guilty and b) the problem as opposed to the solution he thinks he is. This is a relief as he has had a ridiculously easy ride from the press on the whole. Martin Kettle reacts here (and, outside the School of Athens that is The Sunday Times, is there any better political commentator than Kettle?). He seems to be saying that Brown can only get it right by becoming somebody else - Jack Straw maybe. I have now come to the view that Brown will be gone, destroyed by good old back bench treachery, by June 1st. I am considering placing a bet for the first time in about twenty years. These are hard times, we all need easy money. What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
The RSA's Matthew Taylor argues that Brown should just accept he's lost and start preparing for the future:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.matthewtaylorsblog.com/politics/why-the-old-ways-wont-work-for-labour/
worth a pony each way.
ReplyDeleteJust bought the latest scrubbed up version of 2001, wonderfull flic, apart from the Wiener Walzer stuff.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good wheeze, perhaps we should hold an on line quiz, first prize Gordons head on a spike, second prize, the first billion pound note, the booby prize, a night in the sack with Blears.
However, if a gamble it is then I'll take 10% of your action and throw in the helicopter.
Kettle's point about FDR's public show of humility is a very good one. This is even more the right way to go for the opposition. They were, it seemed to me, psyched by the severity of the crisis and the macho Brown posture into a series of wrong responses. Ken Clarke I thought put this all pretty much right yesterday, in his interview with Andrew Marr. Gloomy but not expecting bankruptcy. Hoping the government succeeds - but implicit throughout was the FDR tone of even the smartest of us not knowing.
ReplyDeleteI happen to think FDR was wrong about the New Deal - I accept Thomas Sowell's view that his policies prolonged and made worse the Great Depression. And I think Clarke is wrong about the EU. So this could be considered high praise. Or a lament about how immature politicians are. Whichever way you want to take it.
I think its off to the left with them. Harriet leading the way.
ReplyDeleteI've always rather fancied "a night in the sack with Blears". I suppose this makes me a hopeless case. I suppose we'll be needing a wheelbarrow to carry our modest bets to the Tote by 1 June. I'd go Old Labour and put up two bottles of brown ale, one in each holster.
ReplyDeleteI'm more a Caroline Flint man, myself.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of political betting, have you tried Hubdub? No real money is involved, but you can create betting markets for pretty much anything you like (politics, entertainment and sport) and gamble with virtual cash.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as satisfying as winning real money, but also doesn't hit your wallet so hard when you occasionally make a big bet and wipe out your funds.
At the moment I've got a 10-1 bet that the next prime minister is not any of the Cameron/Clegg/Miliband. Interestingly Brown is not even an option...