Have you seen this man?
Where’s Gordon?
Some ex-prime ministers take years to get over being ejected; some never come to terms with the withdrawal of power. I don’t blame him for holing up in Kirkaldy and trying to bury his anguish by sitting at his keyboard thumping out a tome on the financial crisis. But I do criticise his colleagues for continuing to flinch from confronting the truth about him. – Rawnsley on Brown, The Guardian.
Since Labour left office their successors have finally been able to go through the books. And they make for uncomfortable reading. Of course it is difficult to fathom the labyrinthine bureaucracy that under-pins the NHS. But it would be hard to imagine any private business accepting without question a supplier increasing the price of a product by almost 1,000 per cent over two years. –Daily Mail.
Leadership news
The widow of John Smith, the former Labour leader who died of a heart attack in 1994, has thrown her backing behind Ed Miliband in the party’s leadership battle. Baroness Elizabeth Smith said she was sure that her husband would have done the same thing if he had been alive. “I am backing Ed Miliband because I identify with Ed’s values and principles, and I know that John would have done so too. Ed is also the candidate who I know has the ability to unify the party going forward,” she said. – The Guardian.
David Miliband: leading race
David Miliband is now a hotter favourite than at any time since the race to become Labour Leader began. He has been cut from 1/2 to 2/5 favourite by William Hill who make his brother Ed 2/1 and also offer 10/1 Ed Balls; 14/1 Andy Burnham; 25/1 Diane Abbott. – William Hill.
LABOUR leadership hopeful Ed Miliband visited Bolton and declared: “I’m the right man to lead the party back to power.”The former climate change secretary took questions from a packed room of Labour activists as part of his gruelling nationwide tour to drum up support for his campaign. – The Bolton News.
Everybody knows how and why the Labour Party was formed in the early years of the 20th century: it promoted socialism, public ownership, intervention in the economy, the welfare state and the redistribution of wealth. When it looked as though it had run out of steam decades later, Tony Blair re-invented it as New Labour. Now the candidates tell us New Labour didn’t really work – but seem unable to say what they would put in its place. – The Telegraph.
Orson Welles' sinister Third Man
Mandelson…
GORDON Brown proclaimed his two weeks’ holiday in Suffolk in 2008 relaxing, enjoyable, and a happy family occasion. The truth is very different, according to Lord Mandelson. He says the Browns’ break at Shadingfield Hall was scarred by the bitter fighting in the Labour Party. – East Anglian Daily Times.
In the film noir starring Orson Welles from which the title of this book is stolen, the action takes place in Vienna and “The Third Man” is a criminal schemer who betrays his friends and operates in the sewers before coming to a deservedly bad end. – The Guardian.
Tags: Brown, john smith, Labour, leadership, Miliband
