Gordon Brown Takes Over From Tony Blair - Any Difference?

By: John_York

The long goodbye is over, Tony Blair steps down as the British Prime Minister today and looks set to embark on a long cruise to the Mediterranean to help, did I say help ?, Apparently to help find peace in the middle east on behalf of the Quartet group (USA, EU, UN and Russia).

But now, finally, Gordon Brown, the man who has engineered 10 years of prosperity for Britain has his hands fully on the levers of power. What differences can we expect ?

IRAQ - It is likely that Gordon Brown will hasten the draw down of troops in Iraq, as Gordon Brown definitely will not want to be seen as George Bushes new poodle. Though this is likely to be easier going as George Bush also moves towards the end of his presidency.

Economy - Brown should do well on the economy, the problem here is that even though he has been the chancellor, he is a bit to the left of Tony Blair, so we may see some drift towards an 'socialist' agenda, the degree to which is not clear, but definitely we can expect some sort of redistribution of wealth towards the poorer citizens.

Public Spending - Unfortunately whoever becomes chancellor is going to be pretty weak in the face of the public spending plans Gordon envisages for his legacy. The big question mark is whether these big spending plans will pay off or not. Will he be as lucky as Tony was ?

International Issues - Gordon Brown is expected to be more focused on domestic issues than be so easily wooed by trips abroad. Which is a plus for Britain but likely to put a strain on the 'special' one sided relationship with the US. He is also more pro-europe though not to the extent that he would risk un doing the reforms that have enabled the UK to enjoy a 10 year long boom.

Lessons Learned - Hopefully Gordon will have learned from the many mistakes of Tony Blair, i.e. the perpetual spin that voters tired of, inability to recognise when he was wrong, taking his eye off the ball on domestic issues etc.

The Next Election - Given the competition, i.e. a weak and rambling David Cameron, who even earlier today had to face the highly embarrassing defection of a senior Tory MP, Quentin Davies, with the statement "Cameron's conservative party appears to me to have ceased collectively to believe in anything, or to stand for anything”. Implies that the next election is already won, unless a miracle happens for the Tory party.

What ever Gordon Brown does with his premiership, one things for sure, we are in far safer hands then we ever were when Tony Blair was Prime Minister ! The only question mark is whether he will be too powerful for his own good. Given that it will take time for the next Chancellor to exert his own identity as a future successor to Gordon Brown.

By John York
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