Gordon Brown's transatlantic rant at journalists on board his chartered plane back from Washington - stabbing his finger at them, and saying "I want to sort this out now" - has dismayed even the most hardened Brown aides in the gleeful way it was reported at the weekend. Just as there were hopes that the PM was beginning to be won over by the pressure from his Cabinet pals Ed Balls and Alistair Darling to show some humility for the economic disaster facing Britain, Brown chucked his toys out of the pram and went into deep denial, blaming everyone but himself for the recession. Instead of cosying up to the hacks at the back of the plane - their reward for paying over-the-odds to fly with him to Washington - Brown angrily lectured them on why he was not to blame for the recession. He denied any responsibility for encouraging risk-taking and easing the regulations which have made a dire economic situation worse. Suspecting a stitch-up by the travelling media pack, he snapped: "You want me to go on television and apologise, but I am not going to do it. I have nothing to apologise for. It is not my fault. Get in the real world." At one point, Guardian political editor Patrick Wintour is said to have told Brown: "May I just make it clear we are not all saying that..." earning Wintour the Toady of the Year award. Brown will return to Westminster today looking like a man who is in danger of losing it, blaming all around but accepting no responsibility himself. He had a go at the bankers on Friday at Labour's Scottish conference, calling for a ban on big bonuses. Now, it seems he may have his sights set on another bunch of failures - local councils and their child protection systems. Ed Balls has already warned Labour MPs in private that children's services chiefs are going to come under fire this week with the publication of Lord Laming's inquiry into the scandal of Baby P, the 17-month-old boy who died at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger while Haringey social services failed to intervene. Sharon Shoesmith, who was later sacked as director of children's services in Haringey, saw herself as the scapegoat and accused the Children's Secretary of acting with "breathtaking recklessness". Lord Laming, who also carried out the inquiry into the failures of Haringey social services to protect Victoria Climbie, is expected to condemn institutional failures in child protection services and management teams who fail to see their primary responsibility is to the protection of the child, rather than the parents. Balls told MPs at a private meeting last week that the Government is not out to scapegoat social workers - but their managers have to take the blame. "It has been a destabilising time for the profession, councils and parents since the Baby P case," he said. "Social workers do an incredibly difficult job each day, but when things go wrong in a systematic way there must be accountability." Note to Gordon: Couldn't that equally apply to the way that Government is operating? THE MOLE: BROWN RANT FIRST POSTED MARCH 9, 2009After losing it with journalists, who’s in Brown firing line now?
Monday, 9 March 2009
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