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Disastrous local elections and a string
of cabinet resignations:
yet Gordon Brown still doesn't get the message
James Irvine
Editor: www.land-care.org.uk
Filed 07 Jun 09
©www.land-care.org.uk
The message has been increasing clear to most that Gordon Brown was not making much of a fist as Prime Minister. This awkward, slow-thinking man, almost totally devoid of charisma, seems quite unable to communicate with people. Many have given him the benefit of the doubt and put it down to him being a dour Scot. son of a manse.
He also got the benefit of a fair wind when he was Chancellor, but it is now more widely recognised that, despite being a frugal son of the manse (with prudence as his slogan), he was not laying bye stores for the inevitable rainy day. He participated in and promoted the big spending by irresponsible banks. The Treasury Department, of which he was head, applied very little control. In particular, his Treasury Department was letting the big-time casino gamblers at the head of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland run wild with the savings of the ordinary man. These banks grew, through unwise acquisitions, to be among the biggest banks in the world. Their fall from grace was to be spectacularly disastrous.
With Blair given the push, unelected Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, with his Scottish friend Alastair Darling as Chancellor. Hype was supposed to stop and good Scots honesty to prevail. Moral values were supposed to make a comeback.
But the Minster and his Chancellor, with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to help them, did not manage to prevent the the chief villain at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) from getting a grotesquely extravagant pension when he was sacked. This while the UK taxpayer was bailing out the bank with multi billions of pounds sterling.
The Labour government has been in power for some 12 years. Could they really not have done something about the sleaze, and getting MPs noses out of the expenses trough, a bit sooner? Did they just turn a blind eye to keep their members happy.
Because the inner circle of the Labour government has not been doing honest and competent housekeeping - either outside or inside Westminster - their comeuppance was going to be inevitable and severe.
The way Westminster's House of Commons works is that a general election has to take place at the latest every four years. The next election isn't due until June 2010. Gordon Brown, who has wanted all his life to be PM, can hang on until then. Unless there is a successful vote of no confidence against him.
It came perilously close to that this week.
If further evidence of the public's deep dissatisfaction with the performance of the Gordon Brown/Alastair Darling team was needed, it arrived with a vengeance last week.
On 4th June, England went to the polls to elect local councilors for 34 councils the length and breadth of the land. And the whole of the UK voted in the election for the number of MEPs the various political parties would have to represent the UK at Brussels.
The results of the Euro elections throughout the 27 Member States of the EU will be available on Sunday evening (Monday morning for Scotland). The results of the local elections in England are available now. They are truly disastrous for the Labour Party. There is a massive swing to the Conservatives (see Fig)
Figure: The results of the local elections in England, 4th June 09.
Disastrous results for Labour. They no longer control any county councils
(Data from www.bbx.xo.uk/news)
Labour lost control of those counties which they previously lead. They now no longer control any of the 34 County Councils in England. The Conservative now control 30 out of the total 34. The Conservatives gained 344 more councillors, while Labour lost 273.
The Speaker of the House, Michael Martin - dubbed the last bastion of old labour (1) and embarrassingly another Scot - had at last been persuaded that his conduct had been too awful for him to continue. He announced his decision to quit. He will be gone this month on June 21st (2, 3, 4) .
As the 4th of June approached, a string of rats began to leave the Cabinet and from junior ministerial posts: four of them within 24 hours. And in a manner that revealed their verminous nature.
Among them was Hazel Blears, the cocky wee bissum who was in charge of organising the elections. She ratted off on the eve of these same elections, wearing a broach which articulated "Rocking the boat". To be fair, her message was true enough but the timing and its manner was extraordinary for a Cabinet Minister. Perhaps more suitable for some immature student enjoying a protest jolly. Was she really capable of being a Cabinet Minster in the first place?
A whispering campaign among Labour MPs, seeking Gordon Brown's replacement, was widely leaked to the media. A circular email was being drawn up in the hope that it could gather enough signatures to oust him.
But some rats weren't too sure: whether their own futures would be better served waiting to see what the Euro election results might be - just perhaps they might not be quite as bad as they feared. When you are a rat you have the difficult decision to make. Whether to sign the circular letter and jump immediately. The consequences would be, almost certainly, a general election in which most of them could lose their seats. Or would it be better to hold off and wait for the slow attrition that would give them time to jump later: and their pension provision may be safer? As a rat you think of self rather than country.
But then, just as the polls were closing, yet another Cabinet Minster, James Purnell, handed in his letter of resignation, telling the Prime Minster that he should resign too.
A Cabinet reshuffle had to be done immediately, and not wait until Monday: when the Euro election result might serve another blow to Labour.
But would enough credible people agree to serve on Gordon's Cabinet in the positions that they wanted? His Chancellor, Alastair Darling, was in hot water for allegedly "flipping" his houses to make money and allegedly getting his personal tax worked out by an accountant at the expense of the taxpayer. But friend Alastair would not be moved from the job of Chancellor to let Ed Balls, a buddy of Gordon's, take over this senior post. So Alastair kept his post, although clearly Gordon did not want him there any longer.
Then the really big rats had to decide which way to go: jump ship now or stay. Peter Mandelsohn, safely ensconced in ermine in the unelected House of Lords and having twice resigned from previous Cabinets for allegedly iffy financial dealings, gave his full support to his previous arch enemy Gordon. His price was that he became First Secretary to something or other. In effect that would make him the unelected Deputy Prime Minister. Now there we have a really professional and crafty manipulator: the 'Prince of Darkness', as he is dubbed.
David Miliband decided to support Gordon, and so did a number of the old guard within the Cabinet. They must have reckoned that, if they didn't, their futures would be limited: there was just a chance that they could last another year, and hopefully have a peaceful and lucrative transfer to the Lord's.
But what is Gordon's next desperate move to bolster up his Cabinet? Oh no! TV celebrity Sir Alan Sugar, of The Apprentice notoriety, is to be ennobled next week, so that he can advise the government on Business Development. While The Apprentice may provide amusement for a lot of people, it is emphatically not representative as to how successful businesses are run or should be run. I thought that after Blair, the government said it was going to get away from being celebrity promoted.
Oh yes! And Glenys Kinnock is rumoured to be appointed to give Gordon Brown her public support and advice on foreign matters. The trouble with members of the Lords and others is that they are not answerable to parliament.
Caroline Flint hesitated to give her support to Gordon and threatened to walk out with her friend. Hazel Bears. But when she thought she had been offered a good job in the Cabinet she changed her mind and publicly supported Gordon. However, when she found out that she had not been offered the job she wanted, the strumpet promptly resigned with a stinging letter. She told Gordon that he simply used women as" window dressing".
To be fair, she is quite a nice piece of crumpet, but one without a commensurate amount of brains, at least in terms of moral standards. Surely Gordon must have been scrapping the barrrel to even offer her a junior minister position.
Let's see what the Euro elections bring.
But things are looking desperately grim for the Labour Government and, indeed, for the country. A radical change is mandatory. And that means a general election as soon as can be.
No amount of dogged belief in his own abilities and mission (6) will save Gordon Brown. The trouble with some folk who get a bit too close to some religions is that they can develop religious fervour for misguided causes.
Sorry, MPs: you can't have your long summer recess. The country is in a profound crisis, in considerable part of your own making. You have to play your part to get us out of it. We all have to work harder, for longer, for less and make sure that what we do is going to contribute in some positive way to the recovery: both in terms of economics and political probity. Bring on the general election.
©www.land-care.org.uk
References
1. Linklater, Magnus (2009). Collapse of the last bastion of old Labour. Michael Martin owed his position to loyalty - not to voters, but to a Scottish party machine that all but ignored them.
Reproduced with permission from The TImes
See HOMEPAGE, filed 20 May 09, filed 20 May 09, www.land-cear.org.uk Click Here to View
2. Irvine, James (2009). Speaker Michael Martin remits office: he'll be gone on 21st June 09
See HOMEPAGE, filed 20 May 09, filed 20 May 09, www.land-cear.org.uk Click Here to View
3. Irvine, James (2009). Michael Martin, the Speaker at the House of Commons,
should certainly go: he should never have ben elected.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19May09, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
4. Treneman, Ann (2009). Robed Neanderthal Michael Martin throws tantrum over MPs' expenses
Reproduced with permission from The TImes
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 15May09, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
5. Treneman, Ann (2009). Gordon Brown faces Chamber on resignations, smiling but staggering
Reproduced with permission from The TImes View
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 04Jun09, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
6) Treneman, Ann (2009). Gordon Brown survives another day on purple rhetoric and a few porkies
Reproduced with permission from The TImes
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 06 Jun 09, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
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