Friday, April 04, 2008
Taking water with it
Is this the swiftest u-turn ever? Probably not. Yesterday, licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe told an industry magazine that licensees were "right to be upset" by Alistair Darling's announcement that he will raise the duty by the rate of inflation plus 2% every year until 2012. He then proceeded to encourage landlords to galvanise themselves into a coherent force and focus on how other lobby groups have forced his government to back down on controversial tax rises.
Today, he was telling the media that "My comments do not accurately reflect my views." C'est la vie. However, Mr. Sutcliffe's intervention does underline one of Gordon Brown's problems, his failure to assert authority over his party and to win respect in his own right. That was illustrated again when a group of normally loyal backbenchers tabled an early day motion criticising the impact of the abolition of the 10p tax band. OK, it took them a year to wake up to this problem but their revolt is another sign of the rumblings within the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Ever since his wobbles in the autumn Gordon Brown has struggled to establish himself as a credible Prime Minister. He has all the experience and there is no denying his achievements as Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he has not yet demonstrated that he has the cojones to lead the Country. That is clearly reflected on the doorsteps as voter after voter tells me that they do not like Brown and that they cannot vote Labour this time. As a result backbenchers and even Ministers feel able to dissent at the edges, picking off issues on which they can express their disquiet.
What Gordon Brown has to do to pull himself out of this spiral I cannot say. However, until he is able to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed to be Prime Minister by taking a few personal risks then he will continue to have problems with his backbenches.
Today, he was telling the media that "My comments do not accurately reflect my views." C'est la vie. However, Mr. Sutcliffe's intervention does underline one of Gordon Brown's problems, his failure to assert authority over his party and to win respect in his own right. That was illustrated again when a group of normally loyal backbenchers tabled an early day motion criticising the impact of the abolition of the 10p tax band. OK, it took them a year to wake up to this problem but their revolt is another sign of the rumblings within the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Ever since his wobbles in the autumn Gordon Brown has struggled to establish himself as a credible Prime Minister. He has all the experience and there is no denying his achievements as Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he has not yet demonstrated that he has the cojones to lead the Country. That is clearly reflected on the doorsteps as voter after voter tells me that they do not like Brown and that they cannot vote Labour this time. As a result backbenchers and even Ministers feel able to dissent at the edges, picking off issues on which they can express their disquiet.
What Gordon Brown has to do to pull himself out of this spiral I cannot say. However, until he is able to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed to be Prime Minister by taking a few personal risks then he will continue to have problems with his backbenches.
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Not on topic, but an important issue of governance ...
IcWales reports the scrapping of favourable empty property relief in Wales. I am at a loss why the Assembly thinks this is a good idea - Wales needs re-generation not stagnation.
Wales has just lost a competitive advantage - y oh y did WAG do this?
IcWales reports the scrapping of favourable empty property relief in Wales. I am at a loss why the Assembly thinks this is a good idea - Wales needs re-generation not stagnation.
Wales has just lost a competitive advantage - y oh y did WAG do this?
That is clearly reflected on the doorsteps as voter after voter tells me that they do not like Brown and that they cannot vote Labour this time.
Last time I did that with my Labour Councillor, he scoffed and said these were local elections and so I shouldn't be voting on national issues. No doubt you did similar. :-)
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Last time I did that with my Labour Councillor, he scoffed and said these were local elections and so I shouldn't be voting on national issues. No doubt you did similar. :-)
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