Britannia Radio

Sunday, 14th December 2008

Brown should stop being so petty

JAMES FORSYTH 12:30pm

In Britain there is no transition period for a new government to bed down in. Instead, the leader of the opposition becomes Prime Minister as soon as they have been to see the Queen after their party has won an election.

Since the 1960s oppositions have had discussions with civil servants in the lead up to polling day in an attempt to ensure that they could hit the ground running if elected and to get them up to speed on various issues. These meetings helped mitigate the potentially damaging effect of such an abrupt transfer of power. But Gordon Brown has so far delayed giving permission for these talks to begin even though there will have to be an election in the next 18 months.

This is not a sexy issue. But it does seem to sum up how Brown puts the partisan interest before the national interest. 

Lord Butler, the former Cabinet secretary, tells the Sunday Times today that he thinks Brown’s stalling is “wrong” and “regrettable”: strong words for a mandarin. The response from a Number 10 spokesman that, “The prime minister is in Afghanistan, so it is not top of his list of priorities” is cheap; a crass attempt to hide behind the bravery of our men and women in uniform. The Prime Minister should have the good grace and the patriotism to consent to these talks beginning as soon as possible.