Presidential Brown Strikes Again
First Gordo continued Tony Blair’s reorganisation of the parliamentary timetable in order to be able to act more like a Presidential administration rather than parliamentary executive, and now he has sidelined the Downing Street switchboard:
It is the first time a prime minister has been allowed to make mobile phone calls without first going through the Downing Street switchboard.
Traditionally, the prime minister’s switchboard calls allow civil servants and advisers to listen in to ensure that decisions made during the conversation are acted upon…
One Whitehall source bemoaned the move, saying: “I don’t like the idea at all. We managed to keep other PMs under control with ‘listen-speak’. It’s very Gordonesque that he wants to push the buttons himself.” (The Times)
A continuation of Gordo’s mobile phone style of government - a change from Blair’s ’sofa’ government, but hardly much - if any - of an improvement.
Rather than being s “different” style of government, Brown appears to have very much picked up where Blair left off in making Britain into a Presidential rather than Cabinet government. Brown is taking on a presidential role even more than Blair ever even attempted. He has no wish to develop a “new” style of government and politics, but is more than happy with the old way of spin and point-scoring.
Brown just can’t help but reveal his Stalinist and centralist, control-freak tendencies.
Image: Beau Bo D’Or
Source: The Times
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