Britain’s new government kicks in tomorrow. For many Britons, sick of a decade of spin, it’s a relief to see a different face at the helm even if that face belongs to the bloke next door. The new Prime Minister Gordon Brown may have been anointed but there’s generally a feeling he deserves a go at office.
With an election on the cards either next year or during the early part of 2009 he hasn’t got long to prove himself and outshine his young and energetic Conservative rival David Cameron who recently proclaimed he was a proud Zionist.
People are also tired of Blair’s long drawn-out swan song that has turned out to be more like the quacking of a lame duck. His Cabinet may have given him an emotional send-off but there’ll be few members of the public reaching for the Kleenex. Polls show that the party has already benefited from Blair’s imminent departure with an improved approval rating of four percent.
In his heart, Blair must know this, which probably accounts for his grand farewell to Africa where, in some quarters, he’s viewed more as an anti-poverty champion than the warmonger he’s thought of at home.
Gordon Brown has arguably been one of Britain’s most successful finance ministers. Britain is booming. He ran a tight ship at Number 11 Downing Street that was almost independent of his neighbor. He surrounded himself with loyal colleagues who were discouraged from fraternizing over the fence with the people at Number 10.
It’s no secret that Brown felt Blair had reneged on his promise of sharing the top job with his friend. The relationship was stormy, to put it mildly. By 2005 the two were hardly on speaking terms. There are indications that Brown came close to being fired.
Now that’s all behind them. Blair will move in to his expensive London house but if he wants to keep up the mortgage payments he’ll either have to sell his memoirs for an outrageous sum or continue his White House lackey role — perhaps as a Middle East envoy.
Yes, that’s right. Just as we thought he couldn’t do any more damage in this part of the world he may be allowed to rear his head again courtesy of Bush.
Some of Blair’s closest confidantes such as the Deputy PM John Prescott and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith have already stepped down. Blair’s personal Middle East envoy and tennis partner Lord Levy, who is embroiled in the cash-for-honors scandal, is expected to quit tomorrow.
Brown’s Cabinet is yet to be announced but he is expected to place former Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling in his old job. Former British Ambassador to Israel Simon McDonald has already been appointed Brown’s adviser on foreign policy.
So it’s out with the old and in with the not so new. Brown is promising to inject “soul” into his party and old fashioned “values” such as hard work, duty and respect into politics. Fine words but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
I say let’s keep an open mind and give him a chance. In many areas he’s still a closed book. He is known as a Euro skeptic, an enthusiastic Trans-Atlanticist and also as someone eager to alleviate poverty at home and abroad; especially in Africa and Palestine where he has called for an economic road map.
He is also recognized by Israel as a friend and indeed he has spoken out against academic or economic anti-Israel boycotts.
His Middle East policy is still a mystery so until it is revealed we can only search for clues.
He has spoken of putting a distance between himself and his predecessor in this arena and publicly admitted mistakes were made with Iraq while promising to learn lessons. He will come under pressure to withdraw British troops but that isn’t likely to happen until next year.
We don’t know how he feels about a military confrontation with Iran but Jack Straw was thought to have been fired from his post as foreign secretary for famously describing any such military strike as “inconceivable”.
His critics have described Brown as an uptight authoritarian control freak but he does seem willing to dilute his government’s powers to give more control to Parliament. Blair’s presidential style and laid-back armchair government where affairs of state are mulled over without note-taking over coffee will not be his. For democracy purists these changes will come as a relief.
Brown is far from being a new brush but people like me who couldn’t wait to see the back of Blair can only hope he is able and willing to sweep clean ten years of spin and sleaze.
For me, his future relationship with Bush is the key. Britain needs a leader who has Britain’s interests uppermost — a leader who can work closely and amicably with allies without being a slave to them. An individual, when confronted by a ‘Yo Brown’ moment will have the confidence to quietly say, “Excuse me! That’s Mr. Brown to you”.
