A dish best served cold

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Send to a friend
John Prescott's remarkable vomit-spattered memoirs in the Sunday Times today reveal how Gordon Brown sulked and raged over what he saw as Tony Blair's mendacity about when the former PM would stand aside. When viewed alongside another shattering poll in the Mail On Sunday over the forthcoming Crewe by-election, Mr. Brown's fledgling premiership is starting to look unsalvageable. Blair endured swaths of bad press, often sustained for months at a time. But he had an ability to ride out the media storms; even the most damaging stories - 'cash for honours', the dodgy dossier etc eventually disappeared over the horizon. Setting aside a backdrop of economic woes, a string of mishaps and the undeniable sense of an administration gone stale, Brown simply lacks Blair's unique ability to project confidence. For years Brown brooded from the sidelines, briefing against the boss and stirring the pot. We even learn from Prescott that his jealousy led to him holding cash back from pet Blair projects. The top job was his by right and he wanted everyone to know it...

The result? Well, in 11 days time, the PM's reputation will take a further pummeling in Crewe. The fallout will be highly toxic. A defeat also looms in the Commons over increasing the length a terror suspect can be held without charge to 42 days. Talk of leadership challenges will dog him for the rest of his time at No 10, the sense of lurching - Mr. Bean-like - from crisis to crisis ever-deepening. Meanwhile, whatever he and his friends say in public - or indeed behind the scenes - when he draws the curtains at night, Mr. Blair probably allows the occasional wry smile to creep across his face. Not his trademark Cheshire cat grin, of course. Just a smirk which says 'I told you so'.

Posted by James Silver - On Sunday, May 11, 2008

Send to a friend

SITE MAP