Gordon Brown is not going back to teaching any time soon. In a wideranging,
hour-long interview with The Times, he was at his most resolute in
outlining his pre-election strategy for recovery — both for the British
economy and for his own political fortunes.
He also hinted that there would not be another full-scale spending review
before the election, so avoiding having to take tough public decisions on
cutbacks to core programmes.
Talking in the sparse Thatcher Room overlooking the Downing Street garden, he
dismissed talk that he might give up as Prime Minister. References in an
earlier interview to his love of teaching were historic, he said. “I have
been a teacher, a lecturer. I enjoy teaching. I am not going to get back
into it. I am getting on with the job and not thinking about anything else.”
Mr Brown made it abundantly clear that the “job” meant trying to change the
terms of the political debate after three months dominated by the MPs’
expenses row. This will be marked on Monday by the publication of a
government paper, Building Britain's Future, which will include the
draft legislative programme for the short final session of Parliament
starting this autumn.
There will be three broad themes: creating growth and jobs as the economy
moves out of recession; further reform of public services to tailor them
more to individual concerns; and cleaning up politics. There will be a
series of proposals to give the patient, parent and citizen more control
over their own services. He gave the examples of neighbourhood policing, GP
surgeries and schools.
“We are prepared to take on any vested interest that stands in the way of
better services,” he said.
“They exist not for public servants but for the people who are to be served —
for the patient, parent and resident. Our first focus is how people can be
better served in policing. Most people cannot afford private security. They
want police to be in a better position to help them whether through
identifying crime hotspots or through being able to phone police and get
quick advice.”
Both any change in the economy and new public service reforms will take time
to work through and be appreciated. The implication of the whole interview,
although never explicitly stated, was that his focus was on a long haul, and
that the general election would not take place until next spring, with a
last possible date in early June.
After the buffeting of recent weeks, Mr Brown and his advisers have developed
a revised approach or narrative. This starts with a very tough line on
expenses. “By replacing self-regulation and insisting on higher standards,
we hope we can assure people that there is no conflict between MPs’ public
interests and their self-interest,” Mr Brown said.
He pointed to the action already taken and prospective further action: “We
will be doing everything necessary if advised by [Sir Christopher] Kelly,”
he said, in a reference to the inquiry by the Committee on Standards in
Public Life.
Moreover, there will have to be “procedures for similar problems in the House
of Lords”, which is not included in the new Bill setting up the new
standards authority. He said that procedures need not be exactly the same
for the Lords. He also hinted that the forthcoming constitutional renewal
Bill would include provisions to end the by-elections that allow the 92
remaining hereditary peers to be replaced when one dies.
Labour, he said, is committed to “ending the hereditary principle and ending
it through there being no by-elections. Wait and see. That is one of the
issues that is high in our minds.”
Mr Brown noted that there was now much more interest in his long-term
proposals on a Bill of rights and responsibilities, and a written
constitution than when he first raised them two years ago after becoming
Prime Minister.
Consultative papers will be put out this year but there is no prospect of
legislation on such longer-term changes before the election.
After talking to us, Mr Brown met 100 of Labour’s young candidates and
activists to sign up to an eight-point pledge to clean up politics and
subscribe to the highest standards of accountability and prudence with
public money. They promised to publish online their full salary and
parliamentary allowances. Moreover, they promised to hold “regular meetings,
engagement events and surgeries” and to communicate regularly with their
constituents.
In the interview, he sought to move on: “Now, it is important to look to the
future economic and social progress of our country and to show that even
through these last few months we have been thinking carefully about how
Britain can be best equipped, prepared and geared up for the challenges we
face.”
Mr Brown was careful to emphasise that the recession was not over. Rather, the
Government had taken measures to deal with the recession that were radical
and not what was done in previous recessions, in helping banks and small
businesses, in investing through the recession and in assisting people who
were unemployed. “That means we will return to growth more quickly and we
will probably have saved up to 500,000 jobs that would otherwise have been
lost. People will see we have made a difference to the path of the
recession.”
But it takes time for these actions to have an impact. “I understand why
people in June, when voting, knew we had taken measures, but they had not
seen the results. It takes time for these results to come though as the
economy starts to return to growth again and as employment opportunities
become available.”
That leads on to his claim that Britain is well placed for the future “because
we have some of the best growth industries in the world — we are the leader
in areas which are vital to the future where Britain can gain a comparative
advantage.
“We have a growth strategy and a jobs strategy under which we will not allow
young people to become long-term unemployed and, instead, we will ensure
that that they are skilled and have the training necessary for them to get
jobs in the future.”
Mr Brown pointed to investment in digital technology, carbon capture and
storage, clean coal and the energy sector, broadband, biotchnology and
creative industries, which have “a huge potential for growth and jobs in the
future. We are investing more proportionately than many other countries. We
are looking for private, public and international investment” — noting that
inward investment into the UK in the past year has been high and has not
fallen in the way other traditional indicators have fallen.
“This is the basis for strong growth in the future. On the basis of jobs and
growth, you reduce debt and deficit over a period to meet our five-year plan
for halving the fiscal deficit”.
Faced with demands from, among others, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank
of England, for faster action to reduce the deficit, he denied any split
with ministers. “There will always be a debate about the future. What we
have done in the last few months has been supported by the Governor.”
Mr King has, he said, always supported the rescue plans and has always been
keen for monetary and fiscal action. The Government has “not announced a
spending review, but we have set spending figures for this year and next
year. Most governments do not do what we have done to set spending in
advance. Most governments have not set out the deficit reduction plan we
have. I think we are ahead of other countries”. Future spending plans, and
cuts, will become an increasingly contentious issue before the election, as
outside commentators argue that the choice is not between spending or cuts,
but about the scale of cutbacks in future plans.
Mr Brown also sidestepped suggestions that taxes may have to be increased in
the next Parliament. The tax burden is coming down. “The problem with the
downturn is that you lose revenues from the financial sector and face the
costs of unemployment.
“The way to get the deficit down over the medium and long term is by creating
jobs and growth. In past recessions, investment was cut. We have taken a
different view. We will be judged by events.”
But with an election having to be held within 11 months, does Mr Brown have
enough time? “I think people will begin to see we have made a difference. I
am fighting for growth and jobs all the time.”
He pointed out that repossessions are not as bad as some forecasts. He
concedes that there is always a gap between implementation and delivery.
“People will start to see that lending agreed with the banks is starting to
happen, and having an effect on the mortgage market.”
The Prime Minister was scathing about the Conservatives, although he did not
refer to David Cameron by name. “Our opponents,” he said repeatedly, have no
strategy for the recession . . . for growth . . . for new jobs. They had no
plan to deal with the recession, not one genuine plan for taking us out. All
other countries started to work on the same line as Britain, and the
Conservatives were left isolated — just as they are isolated on Europe.”
He repeated his familiar, and much challenged, mantra that the Conservative
position is that “regardless of employment, irrespective of growth,
irrespective of what happens to debt, inflation and interest rates, they
have decided on a blanket cut of 10 per cent across most of the services.
That is a strange ideological or dogmatic position.”
Despite the recession and the expenses row, Mr Brown emphasised the
Government’s determination to press ahead with big strategic, and often
controversial, decisions on a national planning commission (to reduce delays
on big infrastructure projects), on nuclear energy, a third runway at
Heathrow, and climate change.
Mr Brown showed some of the wear and tear of the past few weeks. While
personally resilient, there are none of the occasional light asides of the
past. It is all business. He explained his reference in an earlier interview
to walking away from the trappings of office tomorrow. This meant only that
he would never miss the trappings, not the job. “I have got a job to do —
one that every day I address with new enthusiasm. I am not going to be
diverted from the important task of getting Britain through difficult
economic times.”
He is obviously going to fight until the end.
