Gordon Brown Slams ‘Obscene’ Levels of Destitution in the UK

THE GUARDIAN: Former PM criticises ministers for ‘moral outrage’ of ‘systematically shredding’ social security system

Britain is in the throes of a hidden poverty “epidemic”, with the worst-affected households living in squalor and going without food, heating and everyday basics such as clean clothes and toothpaste, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said.

Brown accused the government of creating a wall of silence around “obscene” levels of destitution in the UK and criticised ministers for “systematically shredding” a social security system that had once provided a safety net for the poorest.

He said it was a “moral outrage” that the government was unwilling to tackle a social emergency that had created millions of forgotten and voiceless victims, one he compared in an article for the Guardian with the Post Office scandal in terms of the scale of ministerial neglect. » | Patrick Butler, Social policy editor | Thursday, February 8, 2024

Food Banks Are Taking Over from the Welfare State, Warns Gordon Brown

THE GUARDIAN: Former Labour PM, writing in the Observer, calls for action as charities increasingly take over role of social security system

Food banks are increasingly “taking over from the welfare state”, former Labour PM Gordon Brown has warned, amid growing concerns that lack of state support is forcing them into a permanent role in fighting poverty.

With food banks increasingly warning that even working people are seeking help, a new “multibank” model is now emerging to help families with everything from hygiene products to furniture. However, concerns are growing within the food aid movement that their services are becoming so widespread that they are now a crucial fixture, rather than a last resort.

Writing in the Observer last Sunday, Brown, who works with a multibank in Fife, calls on companies to donate their surplus goods and produce more items at cost price as he warns of “rising deprivation among those without money or power”. He also warns food banks are filling the growing hole in support. “As charities take over from the welfare state as our national safety net and the food bank, not the social security system, becomes the last line of defence against destitution, it is difficult not to fear for the future,” he writes. » | Michael Savage, Observer Policy Editor | Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Labour May Abolish House of Lords If It Wins Next Election, Leaked Report Reveals

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Constitutional review by Gordon Brown also recommends devolving economic powers

Gordon Brown was commissioned to undertake the constitutional review by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters
Labour is considering abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an upper house of nations and regions, as well as handing sweeping new powers to local regions and devolved nations, a leaked report has revealed.

The constitutional review by the former prime minister Gordon Brown, which has been seen by MPs and shadow cabinet ministers, recommends devolving new economic powers, including over taxation, and creating new independent councils of the nations and for England.

The review, seen by the Guardian, recommends: » | Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent | Thursday, September 22, 2022

Gordon Brown and John Major Back Nuremberg-style Tribunal for Putin

THE GUARDIAN: Former PMs join campaign calling for trial of Russian president and those around him over invasion of Ukraine

The campaign backed by Brown and Major seeks the creation of a special tribunal modelled on the Nuremberg trials of 1945-46. Photograph: PA
The former UK prime ministers Gordon Brown and Sir John Major are among those calling for the creation of a new international tribunal to investigate Vladimir Putin and those who helped plan his invasion of Ukraine.

They have joined a campaign – along with leading names from the worlds of law, academia and politics – aiming to put the Russian president and others on trial.

Launched with a website and a target of 2 million petition signatures, the campaign – which has already been backed by 740,000 people around the world – seeks to gain public support for a special tribunal modelled on the Nuremberg trials.

It was vital to ensure, eight decades on from the trials of Nazi war criminals, that there was “a day of reckoning for Putin”, said Brown. » | Agencies | Saturday, March 19, 2022

Sign this petition to put Putin and his cronies on trial here.

Gordon Brown: The Britain I Love Is Better Than This

Immigration Boom Under Labour Changed Face Of Britain Faster Than Any Major Country Except Italy, Oxford Experts Reveal

MAIL ONLINE:  Immigrant population soared by 22% during Labour's open door policy  During past two decades number of foreign-born residents has doubled  Only Italy - with rise of 44.6% over same period - recorded bigger rise  Watchdogs say figures show why it will be hard to reduce immigration

The immigration boom under Labour led to the face of Britain changing faster than any major nation except Italy, a study by an Oxford University think tank revealed.

During the five-year peak of the influx, the UK’s migrant population soared by 22 per cent – double the average of G8 countries, figures from the Migration Observatory show.

Over the past two decades, Britain’s foreign-born population has increased from 3.8million – or 7 per cent of the total population - in 1993 to almost 7million, or 12 per cent per cent in 2010.

During the same period, the number of foreign-born residents without British citizenship doubled from just under two million (4 per cent of the population) to over four million (7 per cent).

Net-migration – the number arrivals minus those leaving - increased from 564,000 during the five years from 1996-2000, to 923,000 in 2001-2005 and 1,044,000 during 2006-2010.

In 2010, net-migration reached 252,000, its highest level for a single calendar year on record. Read on and comment » | Julian Gavaghan | Thursday, April 19, 2012

My comment:

So why was the Queen asleep during all of this? Isn't the Queen supposed to offer advice and wise council to the sitting prime minister? – © Mark

This comment also appears here.

Royal Wedding: Syrian Ambassador Invitation Angers MPs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Syrian ambassador to Britain has been invited to the Royal wedding in a move which threatens to exacerbate an ongoing row over the guest list.

Labour MPs said it “bordered on the grotesque” for Sami Khiyami to attend the event when the former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had been excluded.

The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad has been threatened with prosecution for alleged war crimes linked to the deaths of an estimated 450 pro-democracy protesters during marches in recent weeks.

Dr Khiyami’s presence at the ceremony will come despite him being given a formal diplomatic warning yesterday by the most senior official at the Foreign Office for his government’s crackdown on its people, which has included the use of tanks.

Denis MacShane, the former Minister for Europe, said: “Rolling out the red carpet for petty tyrants who back home chop off people’s arms and hands, or, in the case of Syria, send tanks to crush peaceful protests, is bordering on the grotesque.”

Michael Dugher, a shadow Defence Minister, said: “It seems odd that two former Prime Ministers are excluded but we have some quite dubious people being invited. » | Andy Bloxham | Thursday, April 28, 2011

Kate’s Koran Lessons in Jordan
Source: Mail Online
Fury Erupts over Brown and Blair’s Wedding Invitation Snub »

David Cameron Blocks Gordon Brown as Head of IMF
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron will block Gordon Brown's attempts to head up the International Monetary Fund after criticising his handling of the financial crisis.

In a direct attack on the former Prime Minister, Mr Cameron said his predecessor was not the "most appropriate person" to lead the IMF because he would not admit the UK had a "debt problem".

Mr Brown is reportedly hoping to take on the £270,000-a-year role but he must first be nominated by the Government.

“If you have someone who didn’t think we had a debt problem (running the IMF) they may not be the best person to decide whether other countries have that problem," he said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He added that the role needed to be filled by “someone who understands the dangers of excessive spending.”

And in a clear signal that Britain would block Mr Brown if stood for the job, Mr Cameron suggested the position should be filled by a candidate from “China, India or south east Asia.” » | Andrew Porter and James Kirkup | Tuesday, April 19, 2011

WikiLeaks Cables: Gordon Brown an 'Abysmal' Prime Minister
THE GUARDIAN: US wrote off Brown after first year as PM and blamed him for 'post-Blair rudderlessness' which had Labour figures in despair

Gordon Brown at his first press conference as prime minister. WikiLeaks cables reveal the US embassy said he lurched from political disaster to disaster in the role. Photograph: The Guardian
The US embassy in London wrote off Gordon Brown within a year of his arrival in No 10 after concluding that an "abysmal track record" had left him lurching from "political disaster to disaster", according to cables released by WikiLeaks.

In a scathing assessment of the former prime minister, George Bush's last ambassador to London blamed Brown for presiding over a "post-Blair rudderlessness" which prompted senior Labour figures to complain of their despair to the embassy.

The diplomatic cables confirm that Barack Obama's allies were irritated by Brown's intense manner: he interrupted a Thanksgiving call to the current president's ambassador to lobby for a Tobin tax on financial transactions in the face of US opposition. "Prime minister Brown continues to press hard … despite being fully aware of US opposition to the tax," Louis Susman wrote in December last year.

US diplomats monitored the troubled premiership in detail and told Washington about the rules for replacing a Labour leader and Brown's likely successors. Read on and comment >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Thursday, December 02, 2010

Tony Blair’s Revenge on Gordon Brown Puts Labour on Brink of Civil War
THE TELEGRAPH: The ferocity of Tony Blair's attack on Gordon Brown threatens to plunge Labour into a fresh civil war and send the party into the electoral wilderness.

The revelations in Blair's book could cause civil war in the Labour Party. The Telegraph
Published on the day Labour members received their leadership ballot papers, the former prime minister's detailed and sustained criticism of Mr Brown in his memoir was greeted with dismay and astonishment by senior figures in the party.

They said it risked reopening the wounds that scarred the New Labour era and could be "very, very damaging" as the party tried to move on from a general election defeat.

Figures close to Mr Brown accused Mr Blair of being "delusional" and warned that the book could unleash a course of "mutual destruction" and dominate the current leadership election. >>> Andrew Porter, James Kirkup and Robert Winnett | Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Tony Blair: Gordon Brown Had 'Zero' Emotional Intelligence
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair lambasted Gordon Brown in his memoir A Journey as a political failure who had "zero" emotional intelligence.

Photo: The Telegraph
The former prime minister’s memoir describes Mr Brown as "maddening" and blames him for allowing the Tories into power by deviating from his predecessor's New Labour strategy.

Mr Blair disclosed that his former chancellor put “relentless personal pressure” on him during his time in Number 10.

He admitted that he repeatedly considered sacking Mr Brown but failed to identify anyone who could replace him and eventually concluded that he was better “inside and constrained” than “outside and let loose”.

He also accuses his Chancellor of effectively trying to blackmail him into backing down over a pensions reform.

Mr Blair said Mr Brown lacked political instinct "at the human gut level", according to The Guardian.

He wrote: "Political calculation, yes. Political feelings, no. Analytical intelligence, absolutely. Emotional intelligence, zero."

He described Mr Brown as a “maddening figure” who was not capable of being a “normal bloke” sort of politician, but conceded that he possessed an acute “analytical intelligence” which stood him in good stead as chancellor.

In his long-awaited memoir, A Journey, Mr Blair wrote: “My failure to [remove him] was not a lack of courage…It was because I believed, despite it all, despite my own feelings at times, that he was the best chancellor for the country.” >>> Heidi Blake | Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Tony Blair: I Knew Gordon Brown Would Be A Disaster
THE GUARDIAN: World exclusive: As he publishes memoir, ex-PM urges party not to shift to the left

• 'I've got something to say' – exclusive Tony Blair interview

• Blair on Brown: 'Emotional intelligence: zero'

• I didn't see Iraq nightmare coming, says Blair

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Photograph: The Guardian
Tony Blair came to the view that Gordon Brown would be a disaster as prime minister and that Labour could not win the 2010 general election, he reveals in his long awaited memoirs.

"It was never going to work," Blair writes of Brown's three years in No 10, arguing that the former chancellor had "zero emotional intelligence" and fatally abandoned the New Labour formula.

Blair's memoir contains a passionate defence of the war in Iraq and of New Labour's public service and welfare reform plans, which the former prime minister believes his successor abandoned.

Although he refuses directly to endorse any candidate for the Labour leadership, he also makes a number of comments which are likely to be interpreted as criticism of Ed Miliband, vying with his brother David in a contest which reaches a climax as party members receive their ballot papers on Wednesday.

In the book and in his only pre-publication interview, Blair reveals that:

• Brown personally threatened to bring him down over the loans for honours scandal in 2006, before offering to stay his hand in return for the abandonment of Lord Turner's plans to reform pensions.

• He feels intense "anguish" over the lives lost in the Iraq war and failed to "guess the nightmare that unfolded".

• He believes Labour was wrong to ban fox hunting and pass the freedom of information act which is "not practical" for good government.

Blair nails his policy colours to the mast in his memoir by launching a sustained attack on the belief that the financial crisis means that voters want the return of the state as a major economic player. In remarks that will be seen as an implied attack on Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, Blair says voters will not elect a party which fails to offer a credible attack on the deficit. Continue reading and comment >>> Martin Kettle | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mandelson's Memoirs: Blair Thought Brown Was 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous'
THE GUARDIAN: Tony Blair branded Gordon Brown 'beyond redemption' and reneged on deal to stand down after his second term

Gordon Brown behaved 'like a mafioso' according to Tony Blair. Photograph: The Guardian
The relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown became so hostile that Blair described his chancellor as "mad, bad, dangerous and beyond redemption" and likened Brown's behaviour to that of a "mafioso" in his dealings with him, Lord Mandelson has revealed.

The breakdown in the two men's relationship is detailed in the third instalment of Mandelson's memoirs, The Third Man, in which he describes how he and other No 10 aides drew up plans – codenamed Operation Teddy Bear – to split the Treasury into two in an attempt to weaken Brown's challenge to Blair after the prime minister agreed in 2003 not to fight the next general election, only to renege on his promise.

But plans to remove Brown from the Treasury and put him in the Foreign Office were twice considered and rejected by Blair because he feared Brown would resign and become an even greater threat.

Blair's broken promise led to an almost complete breakdown in relations between the two men, and while Mandelson's memoirs lack genuine revelation in many areas they confirm some intriguing details.

Mandelson said at a meeting with John Prescott, then deputy prime minister, Blair agreed to the deal in which he would step aside in favour of Brown. Blair is quoted as saying that even Prescott was "scared" by Brown. "He knows there's something wrong with him," Blair is reported as saying. Mandelson said Blair described Brown as "flawed, lacking perspective and having a paranoia about him". >>> Allegra Stratton, political correspondent | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Sarah Brown, l'ex First Lady, va publier ses Mémoires
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Sarah Brown, l'épouse de l'ex-Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown, va écrire ses Mémoires, qui lèveront le voile sur ses années passées au 10 Downing Street, a annoncé lundi sa maison d'édition.

Sarah Brown, en compagnie de son mari l'ex-premier ministre britannique. Photo : Tribune de Genève
Le volume s'intitulera "Behind the Black Door" (Derrière la porte noire) et racontera "ce que c'est de faire les magasins avec la Special Branch (une unité d'élite de la police chargée de la protection des personnalités, ndlr)" et comment "s'accommoder d'être mal coiffée quand Carla Bruni est dans le coin", a indiqué l'éditeur Ebury.

Sarah Brown avait annoncé la nouvelle dimanche sur le site internet de micro-blogs Twitter, où ses messages sont suivis par plus d'un million de personnes.

"Je viens juste d'accepter d'écrire un livre avec mon éditeur Ebury (...) donc (serai) enchaînée à mon ordinateur portable dès lundi", avait-elle écrit.

La parution du livre est prévue pour le jour de la Fête des mères 2011, soit le 3 avril au Royaume-Uni.

Selon un porte-parole de Mme Brown, le livre "reflétera les défis consistant à abandonner une brillante carrière pour créer un nouveau rôle en tant qu'activiste internationale pour des organisations caritatives". >>> AFP | Lundi 14 Juin 2010

Empty the Nations Coffers; Fill Your Own
MAIL ON SUNDAY: He may have left Britain broke but Gordon Brown could soon be lining his own pockets to the tune of £70,000 a night – telling Americans how to end the recession.

Mr Brown has been approached about joining the US lecture tour circuit to deliver speeches on the world economy to top businessmen and bankers.

The fee is a fraction of the £400,000 a speech commanded by Tony Blair – and may come as a surprise to those who regard Mr Brown as a poor orator.

But celebrity agent Robert Walker – whose clients include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Bishop Desmond Tutu and actors Michael Douglas and Goldie Hawn – insists Mr Brown could earn big sums.

He said: ‘He may not have the panache of a Tony Blair or a Margaret Thatcher but he’s a name and I think there’s a good market for him, especially in the business world.

‘To be very frank with you, it doesn’t matter to me whether Mr Brown is thought of as a good speaker. I look for clients who have content and I work with them to develop it. They bring the steak to the meal. I throw on the sizzle. £70,000 a time? To hear me give a speech? That's what Gordon Brown has been told he can earn >>> Sharon Churcher | Sunday, May 23, 2010

Gordon Brown Talks About His Future

Brown Resigns: 'Thank You And Goodbye'

Talks Between Labour and Liberal Democrats Break Down
THE TELEGRAPH: Coalition talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats have broken down with Gordon Brown reporting to be quitting as prime minister.

Photograph: The Telegraph
The development paves the way for the Conservatives to agree a power-sharing deal with Nick Clegg's party.

It comes after senior Labour figures urged Gordon Brown to "call it quits" on efforts to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

There were reports that Mr Brown was set to resign as prime minister on Tuesday night.

The Lib Dems opened up talks with Labour yesterday morning but at a meeting late last night, some Lib Dem MPs shifted back towards a Tory deal.

One senior Lib Dem said: "There is a sense that the party has realised that the Conservative deal is the best deal on offer. The Tories are desperate and they've improved their offer a lot.

"As long as the party can get over the emotional hurdle of backing the Tories, that's where we'll end up."

A Tory close to the talks said: "They've realised a deal with Labour would be a disaster for them. We're optimistic." >>> | Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Liberal Democrats Pave Way for Labour Coalition as Recriminations Grow
THE TELEGRAPH: The prospect of the Liberal Democrat coalition with Labour moved a step closer as Lord Ashdown set out the case for a pact between Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg.

Describing the Conservatives as "rabidly anti-European", the former Lib Dem leader and close friend and mentor of Mr Clegg defended the legitimacy and stability of a deal with Labour.

He stressed that such a government would have the backing of 51 per cent of voters, dismissing accusations that it would be a "coalition of the defeated".

His comments come as Nick Clegg was attacked from both sides of the political spectrum for making overtures to Gordon Brown even as he continued talks with David Cameron. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Are Lib Dems Going to Symbolize Dishonour from Now On?
MAIL ONLINE: Nick Clegg was at the mercy of his party last night after his MPs and officials refused to back a deal with the Tories.

Following four days of tortuous negotiations with the Conservatives, the Lib Dem leader was ready to strike a power-sharing agreement.

But this was scuppered by his parliamentary party and ruling federal executive, who are holding out for proper voting reform. Under the party's internal rules three-quarters of MPs and officials have to rubber-stamp deals made with other parties.

A three and a half hour meeting in the House of Commons with Lib Dem MPs yesterday ended with Mr Clegg being told to open talks with Gordon Brown and Labour. How Nick Clegg was tripped up by his own side as Lib Dem MPs refused to back deal with Tories >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, May 11, 2010