So what does Gordon really think?
- 23 Sep 06, 12:01 PM
I mentioned yesterday a documentary I've made for Radio Four called What Does Gordon Really Think? You can hear it by clicking 
here - but you might be wondering why we put the programme together.
The reason is simple: Gordon Brown's character and views are now under the most intense scrutiny. They are all that could stand in the way of him fulfilling not just his dream but what he鈥檚 long believed is his destiny. For more than a decade political journalists, like me, have obsessed about the Blair/Brown dynamic (who, by the way, would now argue that it didn鈥檛 matter or that we were making it all up?) Now though the question that needs to be answered is what the man who would be Britain's next prime minister would be like in the job.
In the years BC (Before Clarke), no-one who really counted would go on the record to list the alleged character flaws which until then had only filled journalists notebooks anonymously. Now in the weeks AD (After the Disaster) they鈥檝e gone silent again.
David Blunkett discloses that Brown is so driven that he sometimes barely sleeps or eats : 鈥淚 was sitting next to him in Cabinet bemoaning that I鈥檇 only had five hours sleep and Gordon thought that was rather a lot. If he鈥檚 got an idea in his head, he鈥檒l be up writing, scribbling. When you stay with Gordon and Sarah鈥arah has to drag him out from his study in order to be able to eat. He鈥檚 politics, politics, politics鈥. That鈥檚 proof to some of Gordon Brown's commitment and dedication. It鈥檚 evidence for others that he's an obsessive and is psychologically flawed.
So, friends and foes agree that Gordon Brown isn't an easy man to work with. What divides them is whether they believe his other qualities make the effort worthwhile. That and their hopes or fears about what Gordon really thinks.
At the root of Brown鈥檚 views are the teachings of his father. The themes of the Reverend John Brown's collected sermons are recognisably Brown-ite - 鈥淭owards set objectives鈥, 鈥淢aking the best use of time鈥 and "The vision of duty". As a young man Gordon Brown wrote about the need to tackle the gap "between what people are and what they have it in themselves to become". Neil Kinnock has a neat way of summing up that mission. He labels him not 鈥淐apability Brown鈥 but 鈥淛ustice Brown鈥
So, what might 鈥淛ustice Brown鈥 do in office? His political challenge will be to convince voters there's been a change from the Blair years whilst reassuring his party that there's enough continuity to counter charges of betrayal. The agenda for change is becoming increasingly clear.
First, a package of reforms designed to break Labour's reputation for spin, sleaze and control freakery. Brown has spoken of the need to re-invigorate the constitutional reform agenda - giving Parliament the power to declare war, completing the reform of the House of Lords and devolving more power to the regions and to local councils. Brown believes that his decision to make the Bank of England independent restored trust in the setting of interest rates by preventing politicians interfering. He鈥檚 now considering repeating the trick for the running of the NHS. The government would still set the overall budget and strategic policy but a new independent NHS Board could take over the day to day running of the health service.
Those hoping for an end to Blair鈥檚 wars or a libertarian shift away from Blair鈥檚 laws are likely to be disappointed. Yet, alongside the war on terror there鈥檚 likely to be a war on the global poverty which Brown believes feeds support for terrorism. The chancellor has campaigned to wipe out third world debt. Less well known is his proposal for an economic plan for the Middle East. 鈥淛ustice Brown鈥 believes that economics lies at the root of most problems. Brown鈥檚 known to be scathing of Tony Blair鈥檚 handling of the EU - believing it to be long on charm and short on strategy. One prediction by Ed Balls, a close ally and fellow Treasury minister, is likely to send a shiver around Brussels and produce a groan in the Foreign Office. Balls told me that Brown鈥檚 negotiating style will mirror Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 before hastily adding 鈥渋n the early years鈥 (the years she got 鈥淏ritain鈥檚 money back鈥 and helped shape the single market) Balls says :
鈥淕oing to an international meeting, the easiest thing to do is draft a fudge communique and go home, but if you want to make change that鈥檚 not good enough. It鈥檚 the people who are banging the table and saying 鈥榠t鈥檚 not good enough, we鈥檝e actually got to do something鈥, they鈥檙e the change makers.鈥
The issue that has most divided Gordon Brown from Tony Blair is public service reform. Brown has been infuriated by the endless talk of the 鈥渘eed for reform鈥 fearing that it has undermined morale in the NHS and risks convincing the public that only privatisation will cure the health service鈥檚 ills. What is not yet clear is whether as prime minister he鈥檇 merely change the rhetoric or the reforms themselves. It鈥檚 an uncertainty fuelled by a speech he gave 鈥 or rather didn鈥檛 quite give - to a private dinner at the TUC Conference. Journalists were told he would make a statement of unequivocal support for Tony Blair's NHS reforms. It would have been an important signal had he said it. No-one I鈥檝e spoken to can recall him saying that or anything like it.
For the dozen years since Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown鈥檚 ideas have been shrouded 鈥 sometimes by baffling jargon, occasionally by tactical silence, always by a tendency to work through ideas in secret with a few close friends before springing surprises on voters and colleagues alike. There may not now be much longer to find out what he really thinks.
