Sharpe's Opinion
Friday, 8th May, 2009
Comparing Brown With Major is Flattering Brown
John Major writes in the Telegraph, offering a little of the wisdom of experience from one beleaguered Prime Minister to another. But first, a little Brown-bashing:
In recent days, there have been many comparisons drawn between the present plight of the Labour Government and the final months of its Conservative predecessor. Similarities there may be – but the differences are striking.
The Conservatives were in their 18th year of government: Labour is in its 12th. The Conservatives had no majority, and were at the mercy of a handful of rebels: Labour still enjoys a large majority. Conservative divisions were over policy – notably Europe – in which the dissenters believed they must prevail for the national interest: Labour has no such excuse. And – crucially – the Tory economy was well on track to full vigour: Labour’s is in the mire.
He (perhaps through modesty) misses out another crucial difference – John Major was a flawed but decent man, let down by a lack of authority. Gordon Brown is a crook and a liar, let down by the fact that nobody in his party likes him, and most people in the country think he’s a joke.
Comments
Aye- the story is going down well at Tory Home- seems that Major generally holds his fire, so his interventions are very telling, as on this occasion.
Brown hasn’t been beaten yet though. I won’t believe it until he actually has packed his bags!
Major has quite a keen mind and only speaks out when he feels he has something important to say that nobody else is saying. I suspect that in the later stages of a Tory government, Blair will be able to do the same thing with quite devastating effect.
I should confess to always having liked Major, although when he was in government I didn’t really have a well-formed political opinion. Blair always seemed shifty to me (he was) and Major seemed like a fairly honest chap (he was).
Mr Major is a keen example of the theory that nice people don’t often succeed. OK he got to be PM but he was destroyed because he maintained his integrity. What I cannot fathom is why the electorate failed to appreciated Mr Major and opted instead for Blair. It was obvious to me as a 17-year-old that Blair was a slimy corrupt little **** and that he was only a front for a destructive power-hungry socialism espoused by Gordon Brown. Why didn’t the people who actually voted realise it? Why are they only realising it now, twelve years on?
Do catch up, Britain 
Major ran the country well and seems to have been honest in his public life, if dishonest to his wife.
Blair and Brown ran the country into the ground on a number of fronts, and appear to have been scrupulously honest to their wives but lied through their teeth to us.
Until I have a sex change and marry a prominent politician, I know which I’ll prefer!
True, Tizzy, but I was referring rather more to the way he ran the country, not his marriage. For some reason I just don’t care what politicians get up to in the comfort of their own homes and in their spare time, and worry a lot more about how they spend my money on themselves.
Who cares if he shagged Edwina? What difference does that make to the decisions he took and the political principles he espoused? Next you’ll be telling us that Gordon Brown’s rocking horse antics have anything to do with the fact that he is an incompetent control freak.
BE, a selective memory? Wasn’t there just an itsy bitsy bit of sleaze at the end of Major’s term? Aren’t the juicy bits on the Tories’ expenses being saved up for that rainy day?
I think Major’s letter is right. Reinforces my can’t bear Blair attitude and the incapability of Brown. Major does look a little less rubbish. I reckon he was a surprisingly decent chap, unfaithfulness aside.
I am talking about John Major the person not all the Tory MPs in 1997. As far as I know JM was not accused of anything improper. Did he pay his brother £thousands of taxpayers’ money to clean his personal flat when he had a free one paid for by the taxpayer, for example?
I am not saying that Major’s government was not flawed, and nor is Major. Major is saying that despite the hysteria that Blair whipped up, his government wasn’t too bad. That is why this current round of corruption scandal is so sweet for those who knew that New Labour was just as rotten as Old Labour ever was.
“Purer than pure” he said
“We will restore faith in politics and politicians” he said
Not to mention that Brown is politically corrupt – unless anyone’s naive enough to imagine for one second that he didn’t have anything to do with the McBride emails.
Tory sleaze never went to the top like Brown’s corruption does. We’re looking at Britain’s Nixon, no more, no less.
Stu has mentioned the crucial difference between “Tory sleaze” and now – under Major, the government was essentially honest but supported by some iffy backbenchers. Under Labour, we went to war on the basis of a lie, people have been put in the Lords in return for payment, an expenses system has been thoroughly manipulated and abused, taxpayer funded staff have sat in No.10 thinking up lies to spread about the Opposition…. and so on. This is rotten; nothing less.
Oh, and if Major shagged Edwina then he deserves a medal for bravery imho….
Agreed. With every day that passes, John Major looks just that little bit less rubbish.
Letters From A Tory
May 8, 2009 at 10:21 am