Gone but not forgotten
Well, finally the fingers have been prised away from the door jamb of Number Ten, and Gordon Brown is no longer Prime Minister.
It would be churlish to hit a man while he is down and nobody would wish him and his family anything other than health and happiness. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate the end of his dismal hold on government since 1997 and mourn the damage that he and his cronies have done during that time.
The end was characteristically ham-fisted, mishandled, and displayed the usual graceless and breathtaking lack of connection with the electorate and that disturbing confusion between national and self/sectional interest. The only positive was the number of senior Labour figures going on record to condemn the tacky attempt to dish the Tories by proposing the laughable “progressive alliance”. After years of supine acquiescence to the great clunking fist, maybe that is a sign that this experience will shock the party into taking a long hard look at itself and reappraising it’s relationship with the Country. On the other hand, we may just implode into fighting between unsavoury and inappropriate leadership wannabees and their factions. David Milliband for future PM anyone? Ed Balls? God help us.
So, maybe Labour will start to sort itself out. The Tories seem have been showing their acceptable face so far this week. Only time will tell whether Cameron and the Lib Dems will keep the worst elements of “the nasty party” locked away in the attic. As for the Lib Dems, their unattractive handling of relationships and process during the coalition negotiation does not bode well – the trust issue is well and truly raised.
Interesting times ahead.
