The Brown Stuff - Back to Basics?

[Phil D. Rolls]

Anyone reckon Brown might have hit on a winning formula at last? Namely being himself, and not trying to compete in areas like charm, where he has a snowball's chance of making any inroads.

I reckon Brown is going to do a Major. Sure the economy is in a mess, and he did it, but who is going to sort it "Call Me Dave", or an old school bruiser?

[stu in nottingham]

Good point. I think he would gain a lot more respect by playing to his own strengths (if one believes he has any :greengrin ). His attempts at being charming and personable make him look ridiculous and uncomfortable. I think the public are tired of this personality politics type stuff generally and just want a strong and determined leader, not an airbrushed smoothie.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Good point. I think he would gain a lot more respect by playing to his own strengths (if one believes he has any :greengrin ). His attempts at being charming and personable make him look ridiculous and uncomfortable. I think the public are tired of this personality politics type stuff generally and just want a strong and determined leader, not an airbrushed smoothie.

It worked for John Major, remember the soap box?

[Future17]

Anyone reckon Brown might have hit on a winning formula at last? Namely being himself, and not trying to compete in areas like charm, where he has a snowball's chance of making any inroads.

I reckon Brown is going to do a Major. Sure the economy is in a mess, and he did it, but who is going to sort it "Call Me Dave", or an old school bruiser?

Definitely. Brown missed a massive opportunity to turn the tide in his favour a few months back. If he had bigged up the credit crunch as much as possible and continued his role as re-assuring everybody that he was hard at work and the right man to find a solution then it might have worked.

I recognise he would have to have done this extremely carefully to avoid scaremongering which would've further damaged the economy, but he needs to pick his battles and make the winnable ones matter to the public (or at least make the public think they matter).

As Stu says, he should be playing to his strengths. He's not going to beat Cameron at personality, but he could beat him at politics.

[Expecting Rain]

Anyone reckon Brown might have hit on a winning formula at last? Namely being himself, and not trying to compete in areas like charm, where he has a snowball's chance of making any inroads.

I reckon Brown is going to do a Major. Sure the economy is in a mess, and he did it, but who is going to sort it "Call Me Dave", or an old school bruiser?

I agree FR and the constant daily ridicule of the man is getting a bit tiresome, i prefer him to his game show host predecessor, can`t stand the majority of his cabinet though, as for Punch Cameron he`s got absolutely nothing to offer but cheap, snidely unfunny remarks along with Hague i`m a six pints a day man.

[Phil D. Rolls]

I agree FR and the constant daily ridicule of the man is getting a bit tiresome, i prefer him to his game show host predecessor, can`t stand the majority of his cabinet though, as for Punch Cameron he`s got absolutely nothing to offer but cheap, snidely unfunny remarks along with Hague i`m a six pints a day man.

I think when Graham Norton is starting to crack jokes at your expense you can't really sink any lower.

[Beefster]

Anyone reckon Brown might have hit on a winning formula at last? Namely being himself, and not trying to compete in areas like charm, where he has a snowball's chance of making any inroads.

I reckon Brown is going to do a Major. Sure the economy is in a mess, and he did it, but who is going to sort it "Call Me Dave", or an old school bruiser?

He's changed tack alright. He's now focussing everything he has on lying about not having to make major cuts in public spending from 2010. Considering that my grandkids will still be paying for his complete mismanagement of public spending, giving him another 5 years to 'fix' his mess would be like putting an arsonist in charge of the Fire Brigade.

He'll go down in history as one of the worst Prime Ministers of all time.

[Hibs Class]

He's changed tack alright. He's now focussing everything he has on lying about not having to make major cuts in public spending from 2010. Considering that my grandkids will still be paying for his complete mismanagement of public spending, giving him another 5 years to 'fix' his mess would be like putting an arsonist in charge of the Fire Brigade.

He'll go down in history as one of the worst Prime Ministers of all time.

To be fair to him, I think history will recall him more as a Chancellor than a PM, and he is more likely to go down as one of the worst Chancellors of all time. His time as PM is likely to be sufficiently brief that history will judge it as little more than the blink of an eye, in which he had both ups and downs.

[Dashing Bob S]

To be fair to him, I think history will recall him more as a Chancellor than a PM, and he is more likely to go down as one of the worst Chancellors of all time. His time as PM is likely to be sufficiently brief that history will judge it as little more than the blink of an eye, in which he had both ups and downs.

I think the truth is, that since the late seventies, we have been, here and in the west in general, one of the worst electorates of all time. It's all very well bleating on about the terrible legacy of finances and environment that we're leaving our grandchildren, but to me has very hollow and shabby ring to it.

We've consistently voted for parties and politicians who have put economic growth at the centre of their platform, while we've generally borrowed and spent beyond our means to finance an acquistive, consumerist lifestyle, then we blame the politicians for facilitating this way of life, which we obviously want. Our main plank in policy now is 'to get the banks lending again' so that we can carry on the way we're going, while making things worse in the long-run. It Jamboeconomics and we're steering slowly but surely towards the rocks.

I think we get the politicians we deserve: short-sighted, shallow and putting personal gain and glory above everything else. If people think that Cameron will be be any different/better than Brown, then they are truly demented. There's absolutely nothing in what he's said or proposed to suggest that he would be an improvement on the current mess. That's not to say that he doesn't deserve his chance to screw things up. We need a body, and we'll have Brown's, but nothing will change and Cameron will have the shortest honeymoon period in politics.

[Betty Boop]

I think the truth is, that since the late seventies, we have been, here and in the west in general, one of the worst electorates of all time. It's all very well bleating on about the terrible legacy of finances and environment that we're leaving our grandchildren, but to me has very hollow and shabby ring to it.

We've consistently voted for parties and politicians who have put economic growth at the centre of their platform, while we've generally borrowed and spent beyond our means to finance an acquistive, consumerist lifestyle, then we blame the politicians for facilitating this way of life, which we obviously want. Our main plank in policy now is 'to get the banks lending again' so that we can carry on the way we're going, while making things worse in the long-run. It Jamboeconomics and we're steering slowly but surely towards the rocks.

I think we get the politicians we deserve: short-sighted, shallow and putting personal gain and glory above everything else. If people think that Cameron will be be any different/better than Brown, then they are truly demented. There's absolutely nothing in what he's said or proposed to suggest that he would be an improvement on the current mess. That's not to say that he doesn't deserve his chance to screw things up. We need a body, and we'll have Brown's, but nothing will change and Cameron will have the shortest honeymoon period in politics.
We don't have much choice as long as we are saddled with First past the Post for a voting system! :bitchy:

[hibsbollah]

I think the truth is, that since the late seventies, we have been, here and in the west in general, one of the worst electorates of all time. It's all very well bleating on about the terrible legacy of finances and environment that we're leaving our grandchildren, but to me has very hollow and shabby ring to it.

We've consistently voted for parties and politicians who have put economic growth at the centre of their platform, while we've generally borrowed and spent beyond our means to finance an acquistive, consumerist lifestyle, then we blame the politicians for facilitating this way of life, which we obviously want. Our main plank in policy now is 'to get the banks lending again' so that we can carry on the way we're going, while making things worse in the long-run. It Jamboeconomics and we're steering slowly but surely towards the rocks.

I think we get the politicians we deserve: short-sighted, shallow and putting personal gain and glory above everything else. If people think that Cameron will be be any different/better than Brown, then they are truly demented. There's absolutely nothing in what he's said or proposed to suggest that he would be an improvement on the current mess. That's not to say that he doesn't deserve his chance to screw things up. We need a body, and we'll have Brown's, but nothing will change and Cameron will have the shortest honeymoon period in politics.

:top marks

[Mibbes Aye]

I think the truth is, that since the late seventies, we have been, here and in the west in general, one of the worst electorates of all time. It's all very well bleating on about the terrible legacy of finances and environment that we're leaving our grandchildren, but to me has very hollow and shabby ring to it.

We've consistently voted for parties and politicians who have put economic growth at the centre of their platform, while we've generally borrowed and spent beyond our means to finance an acquistive, consumerist lifestyle, then we blame the politicians for facilitating this way of life, which we obviously want. Our main plank in policy now is 'to get the banks lending again' so that we can carry on the way we're going, while making things worse in the long-run. It Jamboeconomics and we're steering slowly but surely towards the rocks.

I think we get the politicians we deserve: short-sighted, shallow and putting personal gain and glory above everything else. If people think that Cameron will be be any different/better than Brown, then they are truly demented. There's absolutely nothing in what he's said or proposed to suggest that he would be an improvement on the current mess. That's not to say that he doesn't deserve his chance to screw things up. We need a body, and we'll have Brown's, but nothing will change and Cameron will have the shortest honeymoon period in politics.

Would agree with the premise that voters will happily profess sets of beliefs that border on altruistic but when it comes down to it go with something far more self-serving. It's a complicated relationship and I'm sure someone could argue a strong case for it being the just deserts of decades (or centuries) in thrall to market forces and the nurturing of insecurity through capitalism.

Cameron so far seems to represent the most facile kind of opportunism. Not a policy to speak of, but a heritage and a shadow that stinks of unreconstructed Thatcherism and its demonisation of the most vulnerable in our society. For all that anyone and everyone appears ready to lay into Brown, I believe at least he can define what social justice means and at least he has some sense of wanting to work towards it.

That's something unsurprisingly lacking from Cameron and sadly lacking from any of the other oft-touted potential leaders of this country.