Tonight:
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The election campaign is not yet under way and already the question of the Prime Minister's character is an issue, following allegations that Mr Brown bullied staff at Number 10.
David Cameron has hastened to exploit the matter by calling for an inquiry into the accusations. Despite the distraction of whether the National Bullying Helpline charity was right to reveal that some members of staff at Number 10 may have sought its advice, the question remains whether Gordon Brown has the character traits necessary for a good prime minister.
Our report today would appear to bear out some aspects of claims by the journalist Andrew Rawnsley to the effect that Mr Brown does throw temper fits and can be extremely brusque with staff. It is otiose to suggest, as some members of the Government have done, that tantrums and taking bad news badly are a normal or necessary feature of high office; neither Tony Blair nor Margaret Thatcher showed any tendency to intimidate junior employees. Yet the real issue is whether these claims would matter if Gordon Brown presided over a successful administration which had fulfilled its own aspirations. It is because the Government's achievements are so flawed that the question of personality looms large.
And if the character issue does loom large in the election, Mr Brown can share the blame. He has focused attention on himself and his moral approach to politics since becoming premier; he has, more recently, exposed his personal life to public view in a recent high-profile TV interview. With this willingness to make himself a central part of Labour's package, he must accept the flip side, that less edifying aspects of his character will be highlighted too.
Yet given this latest row, which almost derailed the Prime Minister's election launch at the weekend, it appears astonishing that the Tories cannot muster a larger opinion poll lead: indeed their lead has now shrunk to six points.
Controversy over Gordon Brown's character does not seem to translate into confidence in David Cameron. It would be preferable if the contest between them were fought out on issues of policy, not which man is the nicer person.
Bonus restraint
The question of whether the Government should intervene as a majority shareholder in several British banks to prevent top bankers from taking enormous bonuses is now redundant in the case of the RBS boss, Stephen Hester. He has decided to forgo his bonus for 2009, which could have amounted to as much as £1.3 million. It follows a similar move by the chief executive and president of Barclays, which unlike RBS is not under state control. There is now almost irresistible pressure for Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds, 41 per cent of which is owned by the state, to follow suit.
Plainly, this self-denying ordinance on the part of top bankers is welcome. It would be an affront to the public if bankers, especially those supported by the taxpayer, were to pay themselves bonuses as if there had been no collapse and no bail-out. If it is only those running the banks who accept restraint, leaving other top executives to conduct bonus business as usual, the public will be less impressed. Yet self-restraint by financiers is preferable to explicit controls by the Government. This is a start.
Please don't strike
British Airways cabin staff seem set to approve strike action today. Before the unions proceed to follow the vote with action, let's hear it from the passengers who pay their wages: please don't.
Reader views (7)
I'm just Browned off with Brown, let's have a Brown free week. There must be lots of much more pleasant things to think about.
- Bob Stone, Bournemouth, England, 23/02/2010 11:43
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NO, NO, NO!
Not again Brattish Airways Cabin Crew!
The Airline Industry is locked in a deadly battle for survival, British Airways has posted some very large losses in the last couple of years, and the Pension Scheme is also in dire trouble. BAs rivals are growing in strength. Do you actually WANT the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet to kill BA off by taking its share of passengers?
What better way than tell the world that you don't care about that, all you want is to maintain a way of working and pay that is no longer tenable.
Other parts of the airline have made changes to their pay and conditions, why not you too?
The Bottom Line is this, if you insist on striking, tens of thousands of passengers are going to take their business elsewhere, British Airways will lose even more revenue, and in the worst case you will be the final straw that breaks BA's back.
And where will that leave you?
Not on a beach, that's for sure, just high and dry with no pay and no conditions at all.
So WAKE UP, the vast majority of you are great people, don't be steam-rollered by a hardcore group of dinosaurs who only think of themselves, and their 15 minutes of infamy.
- Jack Sensible, Near Heathrow,, 22/02/2010 20:27
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Gordon may not have hit any one but he certainly seems to have mugged the rest of us
- Jerrez, Woking, UK, 22/02/2010 20:01
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Even without these latest revelations the Tories should have already been well down the street and blocks away by now.
But the fact remains that even to a Tory supporter like myself, we are still waiting for David Cameron to announce some right of centre policies that we can recognise and support. I'm afraid that politically correct short lists for constituency candidates do not have the desired effect or attraction as say an emphatic statement on immigration, or a return to three Rs teaching.
If I was contacted by a pollster today Gordon Brown's complete waste of twelve years in power and his obvious inability to lead the country out of our economic problems would not persuade me to automatically give Cameron my vote. I would have to be an undecided.
There are many like me who really really want a Conservative government back in power, but at the moment anyway, Cameron is as big a turn off for us as Brown is for the whole country.
- Ronnie, what used to be England, 22/02/2010 16:13
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Brown's behavior seems more suitable to that of a third world dictator, not the prime minister of a democratic country. Unfortunately, as Brown demonstrates, there are toxic bosses everywhere. The best way to avoid bad bosses is to check on sites like eBossWatch to see what their employees really think about them.
- Pat, London, 22/02/2010 15:16
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"It's all a storm in a Tea-cup!" according to My Liege, Lord Mandelson (alleged). Its all going to fizzle out in a few days according to John Prescott. Maybe it will run and run, and run just like a pile of wooden legs.
Lets do hope so. Mr Brown having a 'Raging Bull' temper tantrum at PMQs really would be a sight to behold.
- Uncle Vanya, Eastern Anglia Area UK (Now part of EUSSR-Land), 22/02/2010 13:32
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All the main parties are making character an issue.
Maybe that's why Blair look-alike David Cameron isn't doing as well as he expects ?
This country needs statesmen who put this country first, not politicians who put themselves first.
- Cap, London, 22/02/2010 13:01
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