Archive for the ‘Gordon Brown’ Category

Greater Election analysis later, but how’s this taster from what may be coming out of a ranting Gordon Brown’s mouth right now…

“What we need now is a clear message to the people of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on every television…. I want this country to realise that we stand on the edge of oblivion; I want every man, woman and child to understand how close we are to chaos; I want everyone to remember WHY THEY NEED US!”

(above could also be from V fo Vendetta – same applies!)

Firstly, I think this post on ConservativeHome sums part of the mood up quite well:

Through an unprecedented expansion of surveillance and data collection, this Labour government has relentlessly invaded the privacy of the British people over the last thirteen years. Their rationale: if you’ve nothing to hide,you’ve nothing to fear.

What a splendid irony that the remarks Gordon Brown thought he was making in private have now sealed his fate.

Secondly, I’m not going to lay in to Brown – what I am going to say is this: Saying something stupid/wrong is something most politicians will do at some point. The challenge is not to let it define you.

“…words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now [Prime Minister, Gordon Brown] He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent… My hope [is] to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the [6th May] to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you…” to not vote Labour on Thursday, 6th May 2010.

Thanks to Owen Meredith for the image

I was quite surprised at how many of my ‘non-political’ friends watched the leaders’ debate on ITV last night, and a running theme emerged, which was duplicated in the post-debate polls – Nick Clegg won, and if you were a Labour supporter you thought Brown easily came second, and a Tory, Cameron.

My take? Clegg started off fastest out of the blocks – no doubt about it. He was cool, calm and measured, and being on the end meant he was able to appear to distance himself from Cameron and Brown – his tactic for the evening; he constantly tried to paint the ‘Labservative’ picture, that Labour and the Conservatives are the same etc. The problem with this tactic was that he reinforced the notion that the Conservatives and Labour are the only two choices for Government, despite his efforts. The catchphrase coming from the debate ‘I agree with Nick’ – primarily from Gordon Brown who tried to snuggle up to the Lib Dem leader, only for Clegg to knock him down like an over-enthusiastic light-weight at every opportunity – will, in my opinion, do more damage to Labour. I think this is the case because Labour and the Liberal Democrats are closer ideologically than the Conservatives and Lib Dems – as such, disillusioned Labour supporters may be more likely to vote Lib Dem because of the agreements Gordon had with Nick, as opposed to Tory voters who know the best way to get rid of Brown will be to vote for Cameron.

Cameron started off slowly – you could see his nerves come through, which I think may, in the long-term, play in his favour; it showed that he was not pure substance, and that he genuinely cared. Indeed, I think if a post-debate poll was taken on empathy he would win by a landslide! His closing statement though was sheer brilliance – yes, as a Tory I’m likely to say that, but I am trying to be as objective as possible – the choice of hope over fear is a point he needs to keep reinforcing. As a libertarian, yes, I want Cameron to go further in what he offers, but I’m acutely aware that Brown is not a ‘giver’. He wants the public to be reliant on him and his over-inflated state. For people who are unemployed to rely on his benefits culture and his JobCentre Plus for jobs. The reality is that the private and voluntary sector should have a much greater role to play.

A tweet of mine that was re-tweeted a lot last night was this: “Brown = Scaremonger who wants you to be reliant on him & the state. Disgusting.”

That’s precisely what he did; tried to instill fear that a Conservative Government would make cuts – I hope it does, the state is too big as outlined by my previous post regarding income tax. Cameron’s belief of ‘getting more for less’ is one I champion daily – Government should be run like the private sector – devoid of waste and overspending, concentrating on providing the best possible service for the least amount of money. That way everyone will have more money to spend on what they want to spend it on.

So that’s my, short and sweet take on last night’s debate.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Turns out Brown said “I agree with Nick” 7 times!