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- More rebels under Brown in 1 year than under Blair in his first parliament of 4 years! So much for Labour togetherness under Brown! See more here. And read full “Browned off” 63 page report here (pdf file)
Comment at end
4th December, 2008
BROWN – “YES WE CAN” AND CAMERON – “NO WE CAN’T”
Balancing the Yin & Yang of the Art of the Possible - Politics
I did have to smile at Gordon Brown’s “Yes we can” yesterday at PMQs. Sorry, but to me, courtesy of the littlies with whom I watch CBeebies programmes, this phrase always reminds me of Bob The Builder, not Obama The Answer.
[And, as an aside, what's happened to all the house-building projects that the previous deputy PM promised us not that long ago? Or does Gordon's mortgage rescue package mean that there won't be, after all, thousands of families looking for social housing as and when their homes are re-possessed?]
But David Cameron too is fond of sitting on the coat-tails of the American President-Elect. According to the New Statesman, he rather messed up recently in his sycophancy. In this article- Cameron’s A Lightweight – it is suggested that Obama was taken aback and somewhat puzzled by Cameron’s approach to the rest of the EU, during their recent meeting.
Well, what can you expect? He had wowed ‘em in Germany in the summer and he’d just come from a meeting with the incomparably politically rounded and pragmatic Tony Blair.
And then there was Dave.
Obama meets Cameron prior to Obama's election victory
Try as he might the Conservative leader cannot and never will get inside Tony Blair’s shoes. It was Blair who said that “without America AND without Europe” we can do nothing to change this world about us. Cameron is hide-bound by his basically anti-Europe party, no matter how hard he would like it to be otherwise.
Conservative Home questions this account, as well they might. But it’s all about perception and lack of, is it not?
I’m yet to be convinced that Mr Cameron or his party has the right tools. The leak/crack in the wall/foundation subsidence are still evident within the Conservatives. Europe is and always has been the Tory fault line. And as the world changes about us Europe will become more, not less important, in my humble opinion.
Bit of building to do, Bob … er … Dave.
Ben Brogan on Browned off Labour MPs
Labour rebellions carry on under Gordon Brown
Phil Cowley has just produced his annual report on the behaviour of the PLP. Here are a few highlights, and you can see the whole thing here.
• Gordon Brown’s first complete parliamentary session as Prime Minister, saw Labour MPs defy their whips on 103 occasions. That compares to 96 occasions in Tony Blair’s whole first Parliament.
• A total of 103 was also greater than the number of rebellions in a single session by members of the governing party during any session for over 30 years.
• The rate of rebellion for the Parliament as a whole is greater than one rebellion in every four divisions – meaning it remains on course to see the highest rate of rebellion of the post-war era.
• The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty accounted for more than a quarter of the rebellious votes cast during the session.
• The largest, on 4 November 2008, during a debate on the Employment Bill; saw 45 Labour MPs vote against their whips. Every session since 1997 had seen at least one rebellion of a larger size by Labour MPs against their whips.
• A total of 104 Labour MPs voted against their whips during the session, and a total of 107 have already voted against their whips during Gordon Brown’s Premiership.
• Of the 50 most rebellious Labour MPs to vote against the whips during the Blair premiership, all but two have now rebelled under Gordon Brown’s leadership.
(So much for the idea that Mr Brown’s arrival would improve discipline)
Tags: 1. Tony Blair, anti-Europe Tories, Barack Obama, bob the builder, Brown (Gordon Brown & his Labour Government, from June 2007), Cameron's a lightweight said Obama, David Cameron, opposition Conservative Party Leader, yin and yang
