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TESTING TIMES FOR GORDON BROWN |
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Leila Nader - AlJazeeraTalk - UK
 The last few weeks have seen the Labour Party limp from scandal to scandal and Gordon Brown is struggling to repair the damage both to his party and his reputation.
It would be fair to say that Tony Blair did not leave office on good terms with the British nation, and as a result the brooding demeanour projected by Gordon Brown seemed like a welcome change to the decade of spin and facile grinning perfected by team “Blair”. There was something about this stark difference between Blair and Brown that caused many to think that Brown could be the antidote to Blair – insomuch as Brown’s time as chancellor had at the very least established him as strong figure of sound judgement.
New Labour has however suffered some devastating blows under Gordon Brown’s short tenure. The most recent events in question being first, the revelation that two CDs containing personal details of 25m people were lost by HM Revenue and Customs and the second the row over money which businessman David Abrahams gave Labour using proxy donors. The loss of the CDs by a government department raised obvious questions about its competence and serious doubts about its ability to handle the sensitive biometric information the government hopes will be held on the long awaited ID cards. Ironically the government claims biometric ID cards will give people a 100% accurate way of proving they are who they say they are. It argues ID cards will boost national security, tackle identity fraud, prevent illegal working and improve border controls - as long as the personal information is not lost in the post by another government agency presumably.
The donations row came to the fore when it emerged on Nov 25 that the Labour Party had received approximately £600,000 worth of donations from the businessman David Abrahams who had used intermediaries to donate the money. Gordon Brown was forced to confirm that the donations had not been lawfully declared; moreover he announced an internal inquiry. The police were also asked to investigate the donations, first by Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne and then by the Electoral Commission. The donations row occurred against the backdrop of the recent cash-for-peerages police inquiry which investigated claims Labour had broken the law preventing the sale of honours.
The question being asked at this point is: just how long can Gordon Brown survive this political climate? He gave up the opportunity to establish the legitimacy of his position when he chose not to hold a general election this year. This decision was interpreted as indicative of a lack of confidence and strength rather than astute political strategy. The series of unfortunate events suffered by the government in recent months has put a dent in Gordon Brown’s controlling, perfectionist reputation and has led many to speculate that the one thing he lacks is control over government. The final blow this week came in parliament when Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable noted that the Prime Minister had been transformed from Stalin to Mr. Bean due to his apparent predisposition to disaster.
With the Conservatives ahead in the polls, Mr. Brown can at least console himself with the knowledge that Mr. Bean is rather more popular than Stalin.
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