Early Christmas

It’s like getting all the Christmas present early.

* Gordon Brown is the world economic colossus.
* 42 days is dead and almost buried.
* The UK has Europe’s most ambitious emissions target.
* I have an editor for new editions of two of my books.
* Obama is unassailable.

While the storm clouds of recession are looming, the rest of parliamentary life is going well.

Hero

Hero

Gordon has metamorphosed from Bean to Stalin, zero to hero as America follows Euro is adopting his strategy. He will lead a new ‘Bretton Woods’ agreement that could shape a more robust practical capitalism for the future. The original Bretton Woods was a compromise that allows the rich world to get richer and the poor poorer.

Gordon will not let that  happen again. His authority as a world leader gives him dominant position to build an economic model that will be fair to the developing world. This is one of his major passions. Having been written off by the media two month ago, he is now within reach of achieving his greatest lifetime ambition with a humane Bretton Woods Mark 2.

The climb-down on 42 days was no time for crowing. Those of us who opposed the 90 days under Blair had a hostile time from the ‘hang-em and flog-em’ brigade who said that we were soft on terrorists. Then 70 % of the public backed 90 days.

Now only 30% back 42 days and the advantage of this political ploy has evaporated. It would have been better if the lesson had been learned before the Lords defeated the bill. But as a potential source of Labour dis-unity the issue is now dead.

Green Labour

Today’s announcement on upping our emissions target confirms Labour’s strong green credentials. It would have been easy to retreat on commitments because of the credit crunch.

He also signaled new help to encourage small-scale electricity generation though technology such as home-based solar panels and wind turbines. Good news for Wrexham.

He said the Energy Bill would be amended to introduce a "feed-in tariff" to guarantee prices for micro-generation projects which are able to supply electricity to the national grid. This is the way that Germany has achieved 15% renewables in its energy generation. We are on 2.3%. My oral question to Ed Milliband this afternoon was:

“Will my friend vigorously pursue his feed-in tariffs policy that will achieve a quick improvement and avoid becoming bewitched by the Pied Piper of nuclear power, that won’t?”

Editor

For years I have been toying with the idea of publishing an up to date edition of my book Commons Knowledge and a re-written version of my autobiography in English. There are always excuses to avoid starting on major projects of this kind.

Now I am under pressure to start the re-writing. I have an editor who has already edited the dairies of two major politicians. The process is often 'slash and burn' of the dross that is so beloved by the writers. I may complain quietly now and again, but I will always take her decisions on what to include and what to junk. 

There is a mountain of new exciting amusing material to write. I will try some of it out on this blog.

Leaders

This morning's exhilarating session of my Select Committee questioned the wise Geoff Mulgan and Matthew Taylor. They have both worked at Number 10 and have fresh creative ideas on efficient Government.

Geoff is soon publishing a new book to follow his brilliant 'Good and Bad Power : The Ideals and Betrayals of Government'. At the end of the session, I asked them to name their choice of the three greatest political leaders.

Three names were mentioned, Clement Attlee, Thomas Jefferson and Barak Obama. The first two because they were Platonic Guardians in their indifference to the demands of the press and other outside influences. Barak Obama for the quality of his thinking as evidenced by his magnificent and subtle speech on race.

His lead in the polls is stretching further ahead of the hapless McCain. We can look forward to great days with President Obama.

Comments

[Graham Marlowe]

After your early Xmas Paul it must be 12th night.

I see your pal Lord Mandy has shelved the idea of further flexible working due to come ino force next April

Yet another volte-face from New Labour, yet another thumbs up to business and a thumbs down to workers.

Naturally, as a confirmed batchelor Mandleson cannot be expected to know much about the needs of juggling working and family life

[Graham Marlowe]

Paul What I do find interesting - perhaps you'll enlighten me? - is why while you are unwrapping your early Xmas presents, you haven't had a word to say about the shrivelled up old almonds you found at the bottom of the Xmas stocking - Phil Woolas playing the race card, backed up by Frank Field on a BBC News 24 interview?. We are in the sewer now.

Things are getting pretty desperate at New Labour, by the looks of things. We'el overlook for now "no more boom and bust" because I understand the Great man has now said he meant an end to TORY boom and bust - which makes it OK then, and we will also overlook the other meaningless statement "an end to spin" - we will forget Campbell is coming back.

If I had to rely on Lord Slime, Campbell and Frank Field I'd rather resign. then some of us have pride. Mr Brown plainly does nogt

[Graham Marlowe]

"rightens the hell out of the Tories who are already cowed with he return of Mandelson and Alistair Campbell."

Oh Paul, with all due respect, where do you get this guff from? Campbell? ex sex magazine scribbler, who bears some responsibility for hounding Dr David Kelly to his death, and his otiose "mate" John Scarlett who helped back up the whole tissue of lies and the whitewash of Hutton?

Mandy, the little worm with his dodgy mortgage applications and delusions of granduer. Frightened of them? Speaking for myself I am disgusted by them - slimy and self regarding has-beens.

As for the "target" for 2050 we will all be dead, so we won't know whether or not it wuill come to fruition: what we DO know is that Hoon has given the go ahead for extra flights out of Stanstead and London City, will probably give the go ahead for a thjird Heathrow ruinway, so we can all make our own mionds up on how Green New Labour are.

[Paul Flynn]

ONLY a target Will S? But that is what dozens of my constituents have campaigning for recently.

There has been substantial progress in the poverty target in the right direction, which is a great deal better than moving in the wrong direction under the Tories.

Targets can be measures of failure rather than success. But this is great step forward when the media is increasingly being seduced by the global-warming deniers.

Stop being a curmudgeon, Will S.

[Paul Flynn]

All these comments are backward looking while we are the brink of major change.

Cameron and most politicians did their bit in praising the the unregulated market. The blame game is tedious. What is new that the British PM was leading the world out of the crisis. So what it lasted only a week? If frightens the hell out of the Tories who are already cowed with he return of Mandelson and Alistair Campbell.

The battle now is who will shape the new Bretton Woods? Bush is desperately trying to shape it on the right-wing model that failed.

[Graham Marlowe]

One thing you can say for Brown is that he is determined - and desperate - to hang on to his job, no matter how low into the gutter he has to fall. He is making sure his puppets are saying all the "right" (Right?) things to recapture the love of The Sun "newspaper".

Yesterday we had Phil Woolas, who is terminally loyal (he used to be one of Blair's greatest sycophants), playing the race card - just the thing to appeal to Murdoch's "readers".

I am surprised Paul Flynn is so easily taken in: if Brown was such a colossus, he wouldn't have sold our gold reserves at bargain basement prices, and the damage he did to pensions can never be under-estimated.

The financial crisis won't last for ever, and when it is over (and by the way he must be the only PM to ever be so happy for such a crisis) he will once again be seen for the pygmy he really is.

[valleylad]

Tony - good shooting! I suggested digging out some of his Mansion House speeches in an earlier post, I feel they capture the true thatcherite tory-lite flavour of nu-labour.

[Tony]

Gordon Bown is the world economic colossus? Hmm .. I think not ..

This is a speech given in June 2007, his last as Chancellor:

Over the ten years that I have had the privilege of addressing you as Chancellor, I have been able year by year to record how the City of London has risen by your efforts, ingenuity and creativity to become a new world leader...

So I congratulate you Lord Mayor and the City of London on these remarkable achievements, an era that history will record as the beginning of a new golden age for the City of London... And I believe it will be said of this age, the first decades of the 21st century, that out of the greatest restructuring of the global economy, perhaps even greater than the industrial revolution, a new world order was created...

So let me say as I begin my new job, I want to continue to work with you in helping you do yours, listening to what you say, always recognising your international success is critical to that of Britain's overall and considering together the things that we must do - and, just as important, things we should not do - to maintain our competitiveness: enhancing a risk based regulatory approach, as we did in resisting pressure for a British Sarbannes-Oxley after Enron and Worldcom.

So in his opinion the bankers were

a) doing it right
b) enhancing our competitiveness
c) quite right to resist any further regulation

..or is that a different Gordon Brown?

I'm prepared to say that he is having a good war .. but please don't try and kid anyone that he an economic colossus. He isn't and when the inquest starts he will have some serious questions to answer..

[John]

I suppose the man who put us in the position of the most indebted country in the EU and so the least able to ride the storm should indeed be morally obliged to get us out of this mess.

[Graham Marlowe]

"Gordon Brown is the world economic colossus"

Yes, Paul. if you say so. And I heard the other day that Elvis Prestley has been seen stacking shelves at Lidl in Watford.

[Will S]

Yawn, an ambitious emissions TARGET means absolutely nothing. It's a bit like aspiring to eradicate child poverty and it's not going to happen.