22nd February 2010
Parliament returns this week after a 5 day recess, and we enter what is likely to be the last session of the current Parliament. Most people expect Parliament to be dissolved before the Easter recess, and an election to be fixed for Thursday 6th May.
The Prime Minister must have been cheered for a few brief moments by another recent opinion poll which suggested that the gap between the Labour Party and its opponents was narrowing. But no sooner had this news been received when the PM was hit by the revelations of “bullying” in the new book by Observer columnist Andrew Rawnsley.
Andrew Rawnsley is a respected political commentator, who talks regularly to the most senior politicians in the country, so there is little doubt that most of his book will be well sourced. The picture he paints of our Prime Minister is likely to be an accurate one.
And the picture is not a particularly pleasant one – it is of a Prime Minister who regularly shouts and screams at staff, and whose henchmen are used to destroy political reputations with off-the-record briefings, in order to protect and enhance the position of Mr. Brown himself.
But does this tittle tattle really matter? Some people will say that Prime Ministers do operate under immense stress, and that throwing objects around the room is not a big deal.
And which politician, others will say, does not brief against political enemies, and seek to get their own “spin” into the press?
But the problem with Mr. Brown is, I think, serious. Firstly, because we have a portrait of a man who does not listen, and who cannot tolerate dissent or differences of view. One insider is quoted as saying: “He does not listen to argument. He just tries to bully you.”
This rings many bells for me, because I well remember visiting Gordon Brown in his Treasury office in 2007, with Vince Cable, to talk about the flaws in his tax credits system – flaws that had driven many people on low incomes deeply into debt. Was Mr. Brown interested in debating the issue or discussing the solutions? Sadly not. He bullied. He blustered. He tried to change the subject. He claimed the flaws were not flaws. And then that that they might be flaws, but that they were already fixed. What he did not do was listen. And as we argued with each other, I noticed that the single civil servant who was sitting in on our meeting to take notes was looking increasingly surprised that anyone should stand up to the “Iron Chancellor”. Clearly this did not happen often. Legitimate comment and criticism of a failing Government policy was about as welcome to the then Chancellor as a night out with Cherie Blair.
Having a Prime Minister who will not listen to advice or criticism is very dangerous, and it has long meant that Mr. Brown relies only on a tiny inner core of loyal Brownites, who no doubt tell him what he wants to hear.
And then there is the vicious briefing against colleagues. Now this has long gone on in Government, but under Mr. Brown and his henchmen it has become particularly vicious and destructive. Recall the demise of Peter Mandelson, before his extraordinary restoration under Mr. Brown. On the first occasion, Mr. Mandelson was brought down because of the revelation of a hidden loan from Geoffrey Robinson MP, a close friend of Mr. Brown.
The revelation, by one of Mr. Brown’s spin-doctors, caused Peter Mandelson to have to resign from the Cabinet. It also prompted the departure from Government of Mr. Brown’s so-called friend, Mr. Robinson. To use a “friend” in such a way, to destroy a potential rival, suggests a degree of brutality which is unusual even in a politician.
And we now know that the current Chancellor, Alistair Darling, once one of Mr. Brown’s closest friends, has received the same brutal treatment from “friends of the Prime Minister”.
This is a standard of behaviour which demeans our politics, and undermines good Government. Mr. Rawnsley’s book is more than political tittle tattle. It sheds light on a style of politics that this country would be better off without.
Ever,
David.