Really now, we never did tell Brown that you don't "try, try, try, try, try, try, try and try again", in politics, as you just end up looking mundane.
One thing though, admittedly, that I have to hand to Brown, is that he's no showman; he's fairly forthright in his persona, not coming across like some underhanded businessman, like Tony Blair, David Cameron, and even Barack Obama.
But, his actual content within his speech, was deception after deception.
He announced to us all of how ID cards for sure will not be compulsory. Oh, uhm, yeah, we already knew that before. And right after he made the announcement, the usual banal New Labour drones clapped enthusiastically; as if Brown made a revolutionary turn-over for human rights....
Oh...wait, it was New Labour who conceived of the idea. In fact, it was only until they realised that they couldn't afford this ramshackle idea, that they shelved it, to erode in the ages.
Not only that, ho ho, but the National Identity Database is still up and running; open for voluntary ID cards and foreign nationals, but still up, nonetheless, and they could retort their position within an afternoon, to get it up and running.
Next, there's his idea for free childcare for poorer families, funded by the scrapping of child benefits for richer families. All sounds nice, but who constitutes as being a rich family, unable to apply for such benefit? At what scale of income would this be? If Brown hasn't conceived of the income bracket, for this scheme, then how can anyone seriously believe he's going to propose such an idea? It's just typical New Labour spin, and nothing more.
Then there's his awfully radical vision of making an elected House Of Lords. What a spectacular idea, that, er, only the vast majority of the British population have been calling for, for years on end. Oh, how original. And a proposition to be made as soon as he WINS the next election; how genuinely felt that proposition that is! Reminds me of Tony Blair's PR vote promise that we, uhm, never got!
If this was genuinely felt, then the most apt time to bring this proposition about, was during the height of the MPs expenses debacle. Or better still, the Cash For Honours scandal.
His proposition for 16 - 17 year old Single Mums to get free housing is the most radical thing he's said, and, ideally, it would be a great idea.
A start, would be to actually build housing. The reason house prices here, are so fucking ludicrously expensive, is because of the small supply, yet huge demand for houses. If council houses are going to be built at the pathetic rate they're being built, then forget the idea. We have about three million council homes in the UK, at the moment, as an estimate. Hey, just another radical thought here, but, erm, I just got the extraordinary notion that that...isn't enough.
On a final note, I'd like to point and laugh at a recurring notion within Brown's speech: that the Labour party are the party for the "many", and the Tories are for the "privileged few".
Certainly true on the last part; the Tories are just the same old elitist hacks from the 20th Century, and, rest assured, I'll be particularly hitting hard into their shit, when it comes to their conference.
But...New Labour....party of the many? The same New Labour that has managed to be the absolute antithesis of the Labour grassroots? The same New Labour that has managed to widen the gap between rich and poor in this country? The same New Labour that has spent their entire 12 years appeasing the corporatist agenda, without peer? The same New Labour that has had the most rigid intransigence, on practically every single issue, thoroughly ignoring public opinion, when it's in utter disapproval of what New Labour have done and are doing? The party of the many, that has an unelected leader, even on the scale of internal Labour leader elections? They are the party of the many? Fuck off
I'm no Daily Mailite; New Labour have genuinely achieved some good things. Two, being the National Minimum Wage, and the fantastic advancement of LGBT rights. They're merely a star within a smog cloud, I'm afraid to say, though.
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