I have been tagged by Nadine Dorries on the things Gordon Brown should be:
Proud of:
His wife and family
His thick skin
Apologise for:
His policies which resulted in the poorest fifth of households comparatively paying more tax and receiving a lower share of benefits since Labour’s election victory in 1997.
The contempt he has shown some Cabinet colleagues.
Do immediately when he becomes PM:
Definitely sack Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Beckett – but keep David Miliband as Environment Secretary.
Listen to colleagues and loosen up.
Things he should do whilst PM:
Make affordable housing a priority – but not at the risk of concreting over our countryside.
Consider the needs and dignity of the elderly, improve their health care without causing them financial hardship.
Now over to Bel, Curly and Istanbul Tory.
(Republished due to technical difficulties).
Comments copied from original post now deleted:
1. Welahcakes Limoncello says:
June 21st, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I agree he should loosen up and also that care of the elderly should be a priority. What did you think of his lounge suit last night, Ellee?
2. Ellee says:
June 21st, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Welshcakes, I thought his informal dress was inappropriate, he looked out of place. When my MEPs secretary writes his diary up, she also includes the correct dress code. Where were Gordon’s aides?
3.Cheezy says:
June 21st, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I cannot argue with the sacking of Beckett and Hewitt, and I could add a few more names to that list without much effort.
I like your constructive suggestions for him too - plus I think he should keep the rural post offices open too.
4.Ellee says:
June 21st, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Cheezy, Nice to hear from you. Those are the two Ministers who I feel should instantly be sacked, though I am sure others will follow too.
We were only permitted two responses per question with this meme, there were so many more suggestions I could have mentioned, including post offices.
5. Istanbul Tory says:
June 21st, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Thanks, Ellee. I shall go away and ponder. Actually, I am writing an article for a Turkish magazine about GB so I am becoming horribly familiar with the creep. Hewitt is for the chop no doubt but Beckett will remain until the end of year. Gordo won’t want his new Foreign Sec. instantly wounded by the current EU treaty furore, for example. Brown will immediately engage on a reshuffle of the junior ministerial ranks but I think will delay on a full Cabinet reshuffle for a while yet.
The only good thing to be said about Brown is that he avoided joining the EURO as the Eurozone went into recession. Tony was/is all in favour of the EURO, of course.
I have to agree with the Downing Street adviser cited in a Daily Torygraph profile on Brown of a few weeks back: “I actually think he’ll go mad, he’ll be the first prime minister to be carried out of No 10 by the men in white coats.�
In any case, the man only has, what 2 years in Office to enjoy….
6. Steven_L says:
June 21st, 2007 at 8:20 pm
‘Make affordable housing a priority – but not at the risk of concreting over our countryside.’ (ellee)
So how then? Take back direct control of interest rates and knack our economy by making them artifically high? Regulate mortgage lending to ban anything over 3.5x income and hit the property market starting a recession? Sack the 800,000 people he’s put on the public payroll so they get that a lot of them get their homes reposessed?
There’s no pain free answer Ellee, building more much housing, which creates jobs, is the only sensible option. However this still won’t do all that much to make housing more affordable than it is. Only a recession will do that.
Steven, I am not an economist, so I can’t comment on the recession. But the obvious answer is developing unused brownfield sites which are still all around us, as well as building apartments.
The real difficulty is that the UK is an vastly populated island, how do we deal with our rising population whose low pay does not make it possible for them to buy their own home?
As someone who since becoming a Tory with the advent of Margaret Thatcher has hoped against hope that the Tories would regain their sanity after destroying one of its greatest Prime Ministers.
Its no use , your Tory Boy Cameron is a plonker who Gordon will rightly have for breakfast.
You should have had the wit to pick the other David ( Davies ) when you had the chance .
A Tory millionaire Eton toff against the self made child of a single mother from a council housing estate , guess who the masses would rather have in this day and and age.
georgegirl, you sound just like Prezza. Not related by any chance are you?
Brown should stop smiling for a start - it really doesn’t become him.
I think his economics is a con because of the levels of public spending (for little return) and the failure to control personal debt. I also feel that the housing boom is encouraged for the ‘feelgood’ and the illusion that the economy is more successful than it is.
A good set of answers Ellee. This has been quite a good meme to understand how bloggers really think and act and what their priorities are.
Georgegirl, I’ve no doubt we picked the right David. I understand your point about Cameron’s background, but he can’t help the family he was born into, he should not be criticised because of it.
Perhaps it’s time a Scotsman was given a chance…we’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.
As I read this post and the many responses, I learned a bit more about what you are facing. It sounds complicated. I wish each of you the best!
Ellee ,
No Im not to my knowledge related to Mr Prescott , but do have to admire his left hook .
What yourself and all the rest of the signed up Tories need to concentrate on is not Wee Gordans shortcomings ( he after all has been part of Mad Tonys regime so we all know his strenghs and weaknesses )
With respect concentrate on sorting out your lot.
Dave Camerons fine words in Tooting are at present just that fine words , fine principles , but wheres the policies that hes going to use to put it into action ?
Im as far away as ever in believing that the Tories have the ability or desire to really change anything .
” Dave ” is not Margaret , now theres a woman who really did have a political belief and saw most of it through .
Im afraid that the soon dropped phrase ” the heir to Blair ” was spot on.
85% of the UK is agricultural land - it only becomes apparent when you are flying so surely a little more concreting over would be ok?
It’s impossible to make houses affordable without increasing their supply. You could always reduce housing demand by limiting immigration. They all have to live somewhere…
[...] Curly has been tagged by Ellee Seymour about this Gordon Brown meme thing, I wasn’t quite sure what do to about, neither was Brenda. Curly is out of the business this afternoon but we’ve been in touch by telephone, so these are his thoughts; [...]
‘The real difficulty is that the UK is an vastly populated island’ (ellee)
You could equally say that it is a vastly underdeveloped island.
It’s only London that has reached capacity in my view, and that’s more to do with transport capacity than anything else.