Brown still chasing the game
Gordon Brown has managed to save himself again, yet his position as Prime Minister does not appear to be a strong one. I am not hinting at the almost ultimate power of Lord Mandelson but rather, I am concerned about the Labour Party’s lack of control over the political agenda.
The Tories seem to dominate the issue of cutting government spending without evoking the image of the nasty party. The full list of MP’s expenses have finally been officially published but fuel instead of calm the debate about political sleaze and lack of transparency. The Iraq inquiry is now going to be partially public although Brown wanted it to be completely secret. If one looks further into the recent past, one notices the Ghurkha failure.
Labour and Brown frequently have to back away from their initial positions. They seem to lack a feeling for the public mood which overall gives a very weak impression of Brown’s leadership skills. It remains to be seen whether the new appointments in No. 10 will change this but the next issue is already looming on the horizon.
In his Mansion House speech on Wednesday, Chancellor Alistair Darling revealed Labour’s unwillingness to reform the financial system. Labour might be able to brush away the criticism from the Bank of England Governor and they might also be able to prevent any far-reaching changes during the present Brussels summit, but can they ignore recent developments in the US? President Obama just announced a major reform of the financial regulatory system and Labour might soon find themselves chasing the agenda – again.