You couldn't make it up

It seems that Gordon Brown will be a visiting fellow at Harvard, lecturing on good government.

I can only say that Americans must think Obama is truly, truly dreadful.

Next scoop: Princeton's Applied Economics Department recruits Fidel Castro

The Browns are seen here modelling clothes from their latest range.

A new tradition?

It is reported that one of Gordon Brown's last acts as Prime Minister was to reduce the Prime Ministerial salary (ie his successor's salary) from £194,000 to £150,000, but that he did so in secret. When David Cameron arrived one of his first acts was to order a 5% paycut for ministers, not realising he had already been hit with a 22% reduction.

I rather think this should develop into a tradition, one of those unwritten elements in our constitution, that the outgoing PM leaves a few nasty surprises for his successor - the mouldy prawns sewn into the curtains, the putrifying piece of meat behind the sofa.

And of course a pay cut. Spices things up.

R.I.P.

Gordon Brown made a decent resignation speech and people are nice to the departing loser, but before long conversation will turn again to whether he was the worst Prime Minister we have ever had.

I am inclined to think he wasn’t, firstly because competition for that accolade is pretty stiff, and second because his premiership was defined by trying to patch up, undo and explain the mistakes of the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer which was, of course, him.

I think, however, he is well on course to be regarded as the worst Chancellor we have ever had.

In part it was the preachy hypocrisy. While pompously lecturing his European counterparts (there is one group of people who won’t miss him) on management of the economy, he unleashed a debt fuelled boom that has left us on our knees. While preaching about the ‘twenty-two Tory tax rises’ he introduced literally hundreds, introducing us to the term ‘stealth tax’ which meant something he had inserted into the small print which you only discovered several days after the end of the debate. While rambling on about Prudence being his watchword he allowed the economy to overheat, such that the only way he could stop the Monetary Policy Committee from raising interest rates was to change the definition of inflation, which he didn’t hesitate to do.

Brown wrecked the nation’s pensions, taking out, some say, £100 billion, leaving the stockmarket (into which the pensions were invested) roughly at the same level it was in 1997. He did this by cancelling the Advanced Corporation Tax dividend relief, confident that the voters wouldn’t understand it and therefore wouldn’t complain. With this and his tax rises and his debt he showered the public sector with money, most of which went on pay rises for people who might vote for him.

As a politician Brown was perhaps the most tribalist we have ever seen. Anyone who can profess to being a socialist while taking away the 10p tax rate, making our poorest people worse off, just to score a point off the Tories, is a psychological study.

With Brown goes the last vestige of New Labour. With its Spin Doctors and Special Advisers, its media refutation unit (what the minister was actually saying....) its corruption, its dirty tricks, it has brought British Politics to a new low from which I don’t expect we shall ever recover. On average, in their thirteen years of office, a new crime was created every day.

Good riddance to the whole twisted, sanctimonious lot of them.

UK Elections 12: Gillian Duffy

I am not a supporter of Grodon Brown but actually I rather hope this story isn't going much further.

Gordon Brown had decided that to beef up his campaign he had to get out amongst real people and not have such stage managed performances. This of course carries with it some risk. I must admit I wouldn't have done an unscripted gig in Rochdale.

Mrs Duffy had a bit of a go at the Prime Minister; she doesn't much like immigrants or national debt, of both of which he has increased numbers dramatically, but they seemed to leave on amical terms. Concorde (have you noticed how the nose cone goes up and down?) then said, while still wearing his radio mike, 'That was a disaster... that bigoted woman'.

The media are like a puppy that has got hold of your trouser bottoms. I turned on BBC 24hr news at midday UK time and by the time we got through the World at One had heard the clip, now digitally enhanced, six or seven times.

Actually, confronted with such a person, my own language would have been far worse, but I don't think we have seen the end of this. I'm almost sorry for Concorde.

Almost.

The whisky and the revolver

Those who talk about Gordon Brown being edged out before the next election seem to me to be missing one important point. HM the Queen has to appoint Prime Ministers and I can't see she would have any choice but to say 'No, the Labour Party was alllowed the chance to appoint its own Prime Minister last time (without even an election in the party!) and I cannot allow a small cabal to force another person on the people without facing the electorate. It is not as if the Labour Party was the only choice to form a government - indeed they are miles behind in the polls.'

Even if Gordon were to resign through ill health this same issue has to be faced. HM Queen has a constitutional position and she would effectively be abrogating it if she allowed such an abuse of democracy to occur. If that were to happen there would sarcely be any constitutional relevance to the monarchy.