a leopard cannot change its spots

Bob, Warrington, Cheshire

How can politicians empathise with people who are low earners and have no chance of getting a mortgage whilst trying to pay high rent and food/utility bills, run a car, pay for petrol and road tax?
MPs don't have to face these problems so how can they "empathise"? What a stupid comment.

Paul, West Midlands, UK

Browns 'substance'?
Brown says 'no celebrity in politics' yet invites Clooney and Sharika to No 10 and appears on American Idol.

Brown says 'no more spin' yet he painfully delivers the most cynical line of spin ever 'listen and learn' during the Sky interview.

Substance? Honesty would be nice!

Dave, Gibraltar,

I voted for the Tories because David Cameron has the courage to talk about real family values and I voted against Labour because, far from giving power back to the people as they claim, they are taking even more away and giving it to quangos like Advantage West Midlands.

Elizabeth, Birmingham, West Midlands

So GB wants to help first time buyers after a decade of increasingly punitive stamp duty! Sheer hypocracy! After years of poor house building rates, supply is taking a massive dive because he let borrowing get out of control. What a bleak picture for our children even without student loans.

Robinson, London,

Brown is so full of his own importance and ability that he sees no reason to empathise. He never has and isn't about to start now. No amount of attrition can excuse his abuse of the vulnerable so he should either submit to an election or resign.

A.Williams, Cradley Heath,

I'm not sure that anyone can learn to empathise. Surely that is a gift you are either born with or without.

Sean, Surrey, UK

Brown does not seem to realise that he got it wrong in the first place by removing the 10p rate of tax. It does not matter what he now says or tries to do to rectify the matter the fact remains that he made a big blunder and that is never going to go away.
It just adds to all the rest.

Martin Briggs, Heversham, England

In reply to Sarah, NI:
In what world does empathy depend on money or upbringing? The ability to put oneself in another persons shoes is a skill developed through learning about the situations of others, communication and a genuine caring attitude. This can be developed by anyone, class regardless.

Marianne, London,

That's it Cruddas! Gordon needs to pretend to be a human being.
In other words, after 11 years of dishonesty, Labour is going to save itself with...more dishonesty!

Brilliant.

Steve H, Boston, UK

Brown is claimed by his ministers to be “the best chancellor” UK has ever had. What world are they living in. He has blown a good financial base; he invented the stealth tax; he has taxed, borrowed and spent this country to near disaster; the 10p tax and the CSA disaster, etc. AND THAT IS GOOD?

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

Cameron suffers from chronic policy deficiency. Venial now, perhaps, since he need not stand in the coconut shy. But please do not for a moment think that Labour's woes have anything to do with another's empathy, charm, charisma or prowess. Cameron has none anyway and would crumble in a Gen Election

Mike L, Chippenham, Wilts

herman, stevenage, UK, you Labour die hards just don't get it do you? He ruined our economy and the UK with his open door policy and you lot are not even going to make the opposition benches at the next election.

D Case, Newquay,

Don't make me laugh. Cameron empathetic? Yeah right, I couldn't expect someone as posh as him to really empathise with anyone.

Sarah , Northern Ireland,

If the realtively sensible Frank Field's thinks the PM's 10p compensation scheme is on the right track, Labour is in more trouble than it thinks.

A lot of folk (5.3 million, or only 3.8 million so that's OK, Gordon) feel cheated and we will still feel cheated whatever the government try to do.

Bryan D, Brentwood, GB

In order Mr Brown to survive he needs to sort out the following:
- Give us EU referendum - Sort high petrol prices
- Sort high electricity and gas prices - Sort rising food prices
- high rise of Council taxes - Sort immigration and refugees
- Stop taxing us on indifferent things -Sort the banks

donald, Manchester , uk

Herman, Stevenage - "Gordon Brown is the only chance for UK to survive"!

You're out to lunch with the pixies.

Robert, Bracknell, England

Gordon Brown kept repeating "we get it" in his relaunch interviews.

Gordon Brown kept repeating that "I am listening" in his relaunch interviews.

He might be listening but he is not hearing.

It is not ""Get it" that he is being told, but "Get out!"

Eddie, Cheshunt, Herts

Its not in Browns make up to empathize with anyone so don't expect any changes there. Brown is what he is, an arrogant, callous, unfeeling Stalinist who believes only he is right and he will trample over any in his way. The electorate rightly have sent their message to get out now.

Mike, Alicante, Spain

Brown`s flaw is that you need a personalty to engage the voter as an allie and not an enemy

Clive, Dartford, Kent

Have you noticed how political families proliferate? We now have the Dunwoodys following the line of the Kinnocks - Neil and his missus in Europe both were making a bomb in Europe, his son in Russia with the British Council, headed by Neil and the daughter at 10, Downing Street. All on the taxpayer.

David, Poole,

Gordon Brown is just a PM and not a care taker for all the
opportunistic members of the nu-Labour, it's the party that
should take the responsibility for the may-day massacre-
Locally, some gave my seat to a lib-dem traitor as a reward,
in Oxford City Town Hall ! Think of that one?

Cllr Ken Tiwari (Independent), Oxford , United Kingdom

Gordon Brown is the only chance for UK to survive. Populism of Mr Blair did cost a lot for the country as a whole. Now another smart talker, Mr Cameron appeared. Talk is cheap... Over last 1o years Gordon managed to keep UK economics away from cataclysms.

Are we suffering short memory disease?

herman, stevenage, UK

I suspect many voters would rather empathise with a dead sheep than have Brown attempt to empathise with them. It would not be a cozy experience!

Edwin, Bucharest,

The elephant in the room is: Poor old Brown is Scottish and the English hate to be ruled by the Scots. End of story.

Jeremy Forbes, London, Essex

Be interesting to see how well the Beauties for Britain Party does in the Crewe byelection. Do lots of young men who read teh Men's mags live there? Be fascinating to collect some of Gemma Garrett's election leaflets - collectors' items.

Ian Burgess, Bristol,

Labour speaks too much managerial language, says Cruddas. Well of course, but no amount of cuddle-speak can disguise its authoritarian roots. A government of robotic control freaks will always sound like one.

Paul, Essex, England

You can get Brown to act any way you like but it won't change the fact that he's clueless and ten years of labour government have left the country in disarray.

Graham, London, UK

The New Liebour spinmeisters are still stuck up their own backsides. It is not Brown's *image* that is the problem. It is the huge national debt which his Chancellorship bequeathed this country, together with house prices being allowed to run out of control when he promised that they wouldn't be.

Paul, Coventry,

A good salesman praises his own product rather than criticise a competitor as this can insult the person who is currently buying the competitors product. I am a "swing" voter who voted Tory last week.
Is this because I was stupidly taking in by a shallow salesman?

Tom, Huddersfield, UK

Yawn, another part of the cycle - Tory failure, Labour failure, Tory failure, now Labour failure again. Shallow leaders with shallow language for a shallow people.

Eddie Reader, birmingham, england

Gordon Brown says that he was not aware of the impact of the 10p tax rate removal. Does he realise how stupid that makes him look? He just shows his Communist traits - that he wants to control the country's money, and dole it out to his pet projects as he sees fit. Get him out!!

Jim, Shoeburyness, England

You see Mr Brown, that is your problem, David Cameron is a damn good salesman, he sold his party & himself to the people, he worked at it, he went to Bury, you did not !

Your problem Mr Brown is you couldn't sell anything, which is why you bottled the election, you know it makes sense to leave now.

maggie millington, brittany, france

This is all "decks on Titanic" change.

EU.
Referendum.

Immigration
Referendum.

Nothing else will do.

Mary, Kensington, UK

Brown has targeted a group for ten years; middle income earners to fuel his spendthrift governance of the country. These earners are feeling the pinch he has run out of taxable targets for his failed fiscal prudence. The working relative poor and middle income Britain will be taxed into penury.

M. Butcher, W-s-M, England

The Tories don't actually have to do anything apart from be there. Labour will wreck themselves the way they always have over the last century.

john, Guildford, UK

You can fool some people some of the time, and it would appear that you can fool most people in the North most of the time, and Gordon Brown can fool himself all of the time. He has now offered to stop a new tax he was considering introducing. What an idiot the man is.

Frederick, London, UK

It is what his spin team have been telling him,he should pretend better.
To prove his empathy we can continue to have our bins emptied free and there is some silly,. unworkable rubbish about asking supermarkets to keep down prices.
Nice re-launch - he loves me !

robert everitt, wolverhampton,

Brown's toast. His judgement's clearly well-off kilter and watching his slow political suicide is becoming embarrassing, in a Borat sort of way. If Labour want to be nailed into the coffin alongside him, fine, but otherwise they need to ditch the dolt, and ditch him fast.

Mike, Brighton, England

So Gordon Brown should behave more like a shallow salesman whilst accusing David Cameron of shallow salesmanship. And in his looking glass world,where words mean whatever he wants them to mean, he will.

How you get three opinions about what Labour's done wrong? Ask two Labour MPS.

Ubi, Edinburgh, UK

Surely any politician that grabs yet more taxation two months before major local elections is deeply naive?? Followed closely by vague promises to make sure the little that is left in the wage packet goes further, the whole thing just became a massive insult.

Net result?? A big black eye.

Pu LI, Guangxi, PRC

Jon Cruddas behaviour as an MP is one of the main reasons why the Labour party is despised. Enough already

Cromwell, Leeds, England