# What will Gordon Brown do as PM of the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 30, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036 "2007-06-30T13:38:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/1 "2007-06-30T13:38:59Z")
And how will it be any different from what Blair has been doing? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/2 "2007-06-30T17:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And how will it be any different from what Blair has been doing? [/QUOTE] Before his ascending to Premiership he said he was going to spend an incredible amount of money on the education of the third world. We’ve already spent a fortune on this project in the recent past and it has resulted in diddly squat,unless you count the many people who have decided to illegally emigrate to the U.K. after receiving this education. I am not a convert. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/3 "2007-06-30T18:02:16Z")
I dunno, but judging by [his rather creepy resemblance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Brown) to the [Propaganda guy](http://www.rogerallam.co.uk/) for the totalitarian gov’t in V for Vendetta, I can only assume he’ll use the fear of the masses to create a distopian dictatorship, until he’s stopped by Guy Fawkes. Admittedly I don’t follow British politics that closely, so I might be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/4 "2007-07-02T10:39:27Z")
The main attack being made by the opposition parties is that Gordon Brown has been an integral part of government for the past 10 years, so nothing will change - vote for us! This is presumably based on an assessment that people are fundamentally unhappy with the way things have been for the past 10 years - I’m not sure that holds up. There’s not been time to do much, obviously, and the recent massively incompetent terrorist attacks are obviously dominating the news and politics agenda right now but what we’ve seen so far is: appointment of non-Labour ministers (potentially very controversial); much talk of renewing the importance of Parliament; possible cross-party constitutional review. Doubtless there’s more lined up, but right now the only thing to talk about is the two attempted bombings. On that, Brown’s response has seemed to suggest a more nuanced approach - there will be increased security checks at airports etc., but we musn’t let terrorists destroy our British way of life. This is being seen as a shift from Blair’s typical response, which stressed the need for greater police powers and gave no credence to any idea that the liberty/security debate was worth having. For what it’s worth, Labour have been slumping in the polls for months, but with the accession of Brown, have regained a convincing lead. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/5 "2007-07-02T11:16:20Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And how will it be any different from what Blair has been doing? [/QUOTE] Well, I expect that he will lose an election at some stage. Probably not the next one though. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/6 "2007-07-02T12:27:09Z")
Gordon Brown has suggested he’ll try to limit even further the influence the Unions have on the Labour Party - particularly the funding aspect to it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/7 "2007-07-02T13:06:16Z")
I think he will try to avoid Blair’s mistakes: - don’t blindly follow a US invasion e.g. into Iran - use the UK Cabinet system, not running the country like a Presidency - stop giving honours for money - stop taking freebies like foreign holidays - don’t appoint Prescott to anything Sadly there aren’t any obvious politicians with talent here. And things tend to be event-driven, like the new Home Secretary starting on her first day with a car bomb narrowly prevented in London. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/8 "2007-07-02T13:08:48Z")
It’ll be much the same, but delivered with a gruffer accent. I cannae wait. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/9 "2007-07-02T13:17:36Z")
I am quite impressed with a lot of his cabinet choices - and who he fired - and the cross-party nature of the appointments is novel: he’s voluntarily inviting some checks and balances. Also, his foreign policy people are largely anti-Iraq war, albeit some hipocrisy there too. The White House is making grumbling noises about this, for which I’m glad. However, I don’t really like his buy-in to the massive government interventionism that’s on the rise, so now I wonder who the hell I can vote for next time round. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/10 "2007-07-02T15:09:42Z")
[QUOTE=glee] - use the UK Cabinet system, not running the country like a Presidency [/QUOTE] What’s the difference, exactly? I thought the British PM had at least as much power as the POTUS – including the power to tell subordinate executives what to do. The Cabinet doesn’t **vote** on anything, does it? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/11 "2007-07-02T15:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] What’s the difference, exactly? I thought the British PM had at least as much power as the POTUS – including the power to tell subordinate executives what to do. The Cabinet doesn’t **vote** on anything, does it? [/QUOTE] Much of the British system is established custom, rather than written rules. Nevertheless, Blair was notorious for having chats with a couple of subordinates, then announcing that policy to the Cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/12 "2007-07-02T15:46:39Z")
Gordon Brown’s got lots of grand plans. The real question is, why, despite Brown being an integral part of government for the past ten years, have these plans only come to light when Brown became PM? He’s not been holding his best ideas back, to the detriment of the country, waiting for his moment to shine, has he? Or, are we to believe his ideas were aired, yet shot down by the tyrannical Blair? > [@](#): > > Before his ascending to Premiership he said he was going to spend an incredible amount of money on the education of the third world. I think it’s the education system in the UK that he should be focussing on. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/13 "2007-07-02T15:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Much of the British system is established custom, rather than written rules. Nevertheless, Blair was notorious for having chats with a couple of subordinates, then announcing that policy to the Cabinet. [/QUOTE] Is that any different from how previous PM did things? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/14 "2007-07-02T15:53:23Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Much of the British system is established custom, rather than written rules. Nevertheless, Blair was notorious for having chats with a couple of subordinates, then announcing that policy to the Cabinet. [/QUOTE] Is that any different from how previous PMs did things? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/15 "2007-07-02T16:18:26Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Is that any different from how previous PM did things? [/QUOTE] Thatcher really broke the Cabinet Govt thing but Blair destroyed it. Before then Cabinet government was much more alive in that decisions were discussed in cabinet and even amended. According to the Cabinet secretary the only decision ever made by cabinet in 10 years of New Labour was to hand over decision-making on the Millennium Dome to Blair. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/16 "2007-07-03T16:21:08Z")
Brown has today outlined some “constitutional” changes he’s like to see: > [@](#): > > Gordon Brown’s 12 key pledges to transfer power from the executive to parliament: > > 1. The power to declare war > > 2. The power request the dissolution of parliament > > 3. The power to recall parliament > > 4. The power to ratify international treaties > > 5. The power to appoint key public officials including the governor of the Bank of England, chief inspector of prisons and utility regulators > > 6. The power to appoint bishops and judges > > 7. A new national security council will regularly publish a national security strategy, setting out threats and objectives > > 8. The attorney general will withdraw from key prosecution decisions unless required by the law or national security > > 9. A new ministerial code will be drawn up with a new independent advisor to supervise disclosure and scrutinise conduct > > 10. MPs to vote on legislation flowing from the European Union amending treaty > > 11. A public debate on the case for a British bill of rights or a written constitution > > 12. The government to consult on changing the laws that restrict the right to demonstrate in Parliament Square. > > Mr Brown also pledged a statement before the summer recess on reform of the House of Lords. From [here.](http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2117592,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/17 "2007-07-03T19:49:19Z")
If he follows through with what **Struan** has just posted then that looks like a bloody good start to me. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/18 "2007-07-03T20:00:44Z")
I agree. A definite turn away from the presidential style of Blair. There isn’t a single thing I disagree with. I do express my hope the public debate is “robust”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/19 "2007-07-03T22:35:31Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] Brown has today outlined some “constitutional” changes he’s like to see: From [here.](http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2117592,00.html) [/QUOTE] What I don’t see on that list is anything about Iraq. Will he pull British forces out of Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036/20 "2007-07-03T22:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] What I don’t see on that list is anything about Iraq. [/quote] That’s not a constitutional matter, to be fair. > [@](#): > > Will he pull British forces out of Iraq? It won’t happen overnight, but his cabinet has many anti-war people in it, so there’s a greater likelihood than under poodle Blair. There are rumblings from the MOD about Basra being unrepairable too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-gordon-brown-do-as-pm-of-the-uk/410036.md?page=2)