Yesterday, I speculated that Gordon Brown hadn't even seen the article for Parliamentary Monitor submitted under his name, let alone written it. It appears I was entirely right. Glen Oglaza has the confirmation. The junior official who wrote it and sent it off to the magazine has apparently been given the hairdryer treatment. Quite how this compares to the mobile phone treatment, I shall leave you to speculate.
All very interesting, but what does this tell us about how Downing Street is run. We're told that Brown is a control freak, yet this sort of thing is allowed to happen. I don't actually blame Brown himself, but I do blame the political machine which is still (apparently) headed by Stephen Carter. Does anyone seriously think this would have happened under Alastair Campbell?
19 comments:
Err - you don't blame Brown?
In real life, if I have something written, sent, authorised, committed under my name I have to take responsibility for it.
Eddie whotsit on thingy (I can't be bovvered nowadays)gave Hague a wonderful opportunity, which Hague took with both hands.
EM: Do you see every single word or letter sent out under your name and do you have to approve it?
WH: Yes...
Brown: I understand that Mr McCain has delegated the pressing of the nuke button to Mrs Palin, and I must say that's quite alright with me...
Brown, Balls and Bollocks are either totally incompetent administrators or liars - there's no third way here chum.
"Does anyone seriously think this would have happened under Alastair Campbell?"
You'd better ask Dr David Kelly's family.
I merely point this out to those who think that things have got worse under Brown.
It was after all Blair who did not sack Brown. And I point it out to those who think that at any time Labour have ever actually had a clue as to what they are doing.
Brown couldn't run a bath.
Woefully out of his depth just like the rest of his cabinet.
"Relatively junior"? That could be anyone. It could be Ed Balls!
I'm not firmly set on one side or the other of this election, but I want Gordon Brown to stay out of it. He ruins everything!
"Does anyone seriously think this would have happened under Alastair Campbell?"
The history of New Labour clearly shows that Alastair Campbell was in fact quite capable of creating a public relations catastrophe by his own efforts, without any assistance from incompetent underlings.
Patrick, At every level, the mediocre have taken over. The triumph of socialism is the hegemony of the numbskulls.
A leader picks his people, he picks them because he trusts them. Downing Street is a relatively small 'business'. If he cannot trust 'his people' on something relatively innocuous like writing an article God help us if it were something important.
Of course we blame Brown. He's become a blame magnet and everything's his fault! Blair should have been blamed for a lot more but his teflon coat still seems to work.
Brown tries to deflect blame onto "international factors" and "outside challenges" but no one believe his protests.
Control freaks fear incidents like this one...but they happen anyway. Control freaks cannot keep competent staff and so inexperienced and/or less competent staff come in. So there will likely be more instances like this in future.
The person I am most sorry for in this case is the innocent victim- Senator Obama! The least we in UK should do is let Mr Obama win or lose on his own merits.
more to the point, what is an official paid for by the taxpayer doing writing political material which cites the democrats, for instance? worth a WPQ, i'd have thought.
Nasty piece of work by a little Zanulab creep the other side of the pond.
Set up by a Brown-hater over here, told to write it, and then told to deny it.
'Fan' - 'shit' - appears on BBC 5 o' clock news well before tractor manufacture figures - easily disguised and covered, but McCain will remember...
Best spin I've heard in ages, so it can't be the gits we hear about here Guido...
Didn't someone plagiarise a student thesis which then went into a sexed up dossier under Alistair Campbell's watch?
IIRC, that poor soul got the full hair-dryer treatment as well.
Alistair Campbell had a great Lions tour didn't he? And that 'bringing peace to the Middle East just like I did to Ireland' roadshow of Tony Blair's has been quite a success.
I just thought I'd point out that they're incompetent at everything.
Oh, I didn't realise that somebody was meant to be running Number 10 (and the country ?).
I had assumed that it was like the last day of term and you were allowed to bring boardgames in and watch videos.
"In real life, if I have something written, sent, authorised, committed under my name I have to take responsibility for it"
You have obviously never been a Labour Minister then
Of course Iain you're assuming that the version of events leaked to Oglaza is correct.
It could equally be that Brown himself decided to talk up Obama in the hope it would get him some favourable coverage, and he is now desperately trying to cover his tracks.
It's happened before and it'll happen again...
I have often wondered whether those ghastly books "Courage" etc churned out by the Great Leader whilst Chancellor had any input from him at all.Anyone know?
Iain, Consider Libel!
If an article is submitted in YOUR name to the newspapers. It IS yours! In law the author and the newspaper could be sued if it is thought to libel someone!
I do not believe the Courts would accept a 'It was not me that wrote is Your Honour, it was a junior member of my team!' It would be laughed out of court.
Brown has shown, by this episode, that he continues to blame everyone and anyone when the wheel comes off. and for the man of courage taking all the hard decisions he has a very strange way of running his office.
William Hague was spot on. I am sure everyone in a position reads everything put out in their name. Otherwise would be crass stupidity!
We have a stupid Prime Minister!
ps. Nice to see the Brown Bunker Boys are still trying to defend the undefendable.
Whether OGLAZA was leaked the result or not, it was certainly apparent that Snotty ducked the question yesterday while having a press conference with that oily Italian git.
Of course it's Brown's fault. As Hague says, if it goes out under your name then you bloddy well check it.
Anything that Gordon Brown puts his name to is his own responsibility. No-one should have any sympathy for him on this matter.
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