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Was John Hutton also able to predict this week's lottery numbers?

Well there you go then, Gordon hasn't been so bad! And it's true, isn't it? Funnily enough, he's been considerably better at Ten than he was at Eleven. As a Chancellor he was, to put it mildly, rather overrated.

Any case, yes, a Happy Christmas to tout le blog and an enlightened and clear thinking progressive New Year.

Prediction time ...

June 3rd ... Clowns by 36.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

John Hutton shows himself to be utterly spineless, having blown his opportunity to push events the way he clearly wanted them to go. We should remember this man's lack of backbone if he ever resurfaces in a responsible position.

Hutton's remark in 2006 has been on the money. I really do not see how anyone can argue that Gordon Brown has been a successful PM . His decisions during his time at No 11 have proved to be largely wrong never mind his predictions. Oh and did I hear today that we are officially still in recession....tut tut Mr B......I thought you said we were best placed.

It doesn't really matter does it, as everyone knows by now New Labour has been a catastrophe for Britain. So whoever followed Blair was going to be very challenged.

I have heard it said that once the books have been balanced public spending will have fallen back to 1997 levels. So what on earth have the last twelve years been about? Other than the destruction of wealth, the destruction of our constitution, the destruction of our economy and the ruination of our collective future.

`Things can only get better': does one laugh or cry?

Hutton seems to have hit the nail on the head with that one.

However one question. The blog says "And yes, he did want to be quoted" back in 2006. Why is it that Nick never informed anyone that the quote came from Hutton? Why wait for Eddie Mair to extract the confession?

Seems very odd that the politician would want to tell the truth but the journalist wants to hide it.

To be completely honest, not everything Brown touches is a disaster, I will just never think that he would be the best suited to the job. Although with the current crop theres not many that I would actively push for.

This isn't news as we have all known for years that Brown is a disaster.
Nick - Why not tell us about all of the labour cuts that are and will take place. Why not highlight " No cuts Brown " cuts as this would be more interesting.

Mr Brown seems fixated with using the word 'global' at every opportunity. When you next sup with him Nick, could you gently remind him that the only thing 'global' about him is Balls?

Season greetings 'Sir' Nick, ad have a guid New Year

This blog sums up the political and ethical bankruptcy of new Labour. Now we hear Lord Mandelson is throwing his toys out of the pram. Electoral doom seems inevitable but for those who want a fairer and more equal society what is the alternative?

The story "John Hutton admits 'Brown disaster as PM' prediction" includes a quote with the direct use of the F-word, without any form of censorship. Sorry ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ - this is unacceptable. And I'm not some old prude, I'm a 30 year old male. But some people (including me) still regard use of this word as offensive. And as there's no mechanism to enforce who sees these news stories (kids, etc), use of this word should at the very least be blanked. Who's doing the editing on these political stories - Jonathon Ross?!

Mr. Robinson should be praised for the discretion he has displayed, and no doubt, such behaviour is of great assistance in gaining the confidence of politicians. It is a sad truth however that we have to rely on journalists, gossip and rumour to get to the truth. Throughout assorted parliaments and governments, the prevailing motivation seems to remain ‘at all costs, tell ‘em what we want them to think, regardless of the facts’. (A long-winded version of ‘lie through your teeth, just don’t get caught’.)

2. sagamix:

Well there you go then, Gordon hasn't been so bad! And it's true, isn't it? Funnily enough, he's been considerably better at Ten than he was at Eleven.




'Tis the season to be charitable... :-)

It seems to me that all Hutton is saying is that Brown has tried very hard and done his best, not that he was any good. This reminds me of the 'I will do my utmost' school motto nonsense that Brown trotted out when he became PM. Big deal - effort we take for granted in whoever is PM. How about integrity or competence?

What good insight Hutton had he was spot on Gordon Brown has been an utter disaster and this will be proved by the next election result.

Mr Robinson,

This little story, like many other stories from the Westmonster village, was known by you a long time ago.

But to keep in the grace & favour of your co-taxpaer funded public servants you chose to keep quiet about it.

Just like you did about Damian McBride, just as you have about certain character traits & flaws in our unmandated & incr4easingly fiscally insane Prime Minister.

You, as a journalist have hit such a low ebb now that I just take everything you write & say with a huge spade of salt.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ really needs reform - & media elite lobby journalists like you should be facing the dole for dereliction of duty.

Not good enough Nick.

2. sagamix
"Well there you go then, Gordon hasn't been so bad! And it's true, isn't it? Funnily enough, he's been considerably better at Ten than he was at Eleven. As a Chancellor he was, to put it mildly, rather overrated."

Eh? It what sense has Brown been any good as PM? Seriously. What has Brown achieved since he became PM? I agree that Brown was over-rated as chancellor but he's been hopeless as PM. Dithering half the time, knee-jerk reactions the other half. Unable to communicate or build a rapport with the electorate. Alienating cabinet colleagues, too weak to remove Darling. The one thing where he hasn't been a disaster is the reaction to the banking crisis but even there, I'm bewildered that coping with a crisis of his own making should be a reason to applaud him. Bit like someone building his house out of paper, dousing it in petrol, playing with matches and then being applauded because he managed to put out the flames before the whole thing burnt down.

#17

"our... fiscally insane Prime Minister"

I fear that nothing I say about Brown could ever so succinctly capture the very essence of our current leader.

That is just brilliant.

2 Sagamix and AndyC555

I think saga is suffering the effects from too much "Christmas Spirit" !

Still, its good to see that the government have everything under control. Especially the transport chaos, which according to governemnt spokesman is being "monitored" by (the unelected and unaccountable) Transport Secretary Lord Adonis from his holiday resort in Austria.

Given that it is indeed the season of goodwill I too wish all the 'posters' best wishes for Christmas and the New Year regardless of their political etc views - cos some we love and some less so.

And for Mr Brown, my wish is that he has a Happy New Year safely retired in his Scottish home, enjoying his family.

The interview shows the lengths that some current politicians will go to not give a straight answer to a straight question.

It surely couldn't have been too difficult for Hutton to say.

"Yes I said it but Gordon has proved me wrong"

if he felt Gordon had done better than he expected or to just have confirmed.

"Yes I said it."

In the light of this weasely answer it isn't difficult to see why politicians are held in such contempt by the average voter.

So what did he do to try and stop this effing disaster becoming PM ?
Errr - not much ! Always nice to see a man of conviction at work ..
And what criteria is he now using to say that Brown is doing a good job ? I'd love to see those ..

Isn't it rather convenient that Gordon won't be giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry until after the election?

Nick, So you now have proof that you have 'inside, non public info'. Well done.

Overheard in the student bar from a student to an 'older person':

Be thankful, we have all given our tomorrows for your today - and last 12 years.

A good summary of 12 fantasy years. Its a pity we have not had some penetrating insight from our correspondents, along similar lines.

Politician tells it how it is and then in a mad panic tries to keep it quiet. Nothing changes.

Could I wish all bloggers a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year, and I look forward to our verbal joustings in 2010.

Oh and what an effing disaster he truly has been, notice on the front of the Telegraph Mandelson is beginning to even see through Brown, the rats are preparing to jump ship!!!!!

Why did you choose to say the word "effing" in this post and then for good measure choose to type out the full word in the quote. Couldn't you have kept with the pattern and used the word "effing"?

I have just noticed that your "profanity filter" does allow the word in response!

My son reads this blog (he strangely has an interest in politics at the age of 11) but I don't really want him reading words like that - I appreciate a few ***s don't hide the meaning or the word but I simply don't want my son reading it. It gives it an element of acceptability - which there shouldn't be.

Hope you choose to change this on a blog that any child could access.

The way John Hutton answered the question makes me be believe he still has very little confidents Gordon Brown.

"I think he has been a tremendously hard-working man, who has really put, as I said, his heart and soul into it."

Same could be said of Hitler, or Stalin.

The "he'll be a disaster" warning didn't just come from politicians though, Nick, you're forgetting that a lot of the general public were saying the same thing too (ie that he'd destroy the economy, he's got no idea what he's doing etc etc).

Without the relatively "normal" Blair being there as a final filter to stop Brown's most insane plans, it was clear to anyone with half a brain that it was just a question of time before the country went bust or fell into civil disobedience (or both).

It was for this reason that I sold every single share that I held on the day that Brown came into office, and in the end I was proved right (as were the millions of others who were shouting this at you and at the rest of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ with a megaphone for months on end but who you completely ignored)

Well, we already knew that there was a cosy understanding that lobby journalists wouldn't let us plebs in on the Westminster secrets: Charles Kennedy's drinking was the most outstanding one in recent years, but there have been many others. So the Hutton revelation doesn't surprise me. What DOES surprise me is that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has let its political bloggers go on holiday during the period in which it is obviously really goo to bury bad news.

There was a news item this morning about university education cuts. Another about the clever tricks employed to keep A&E queues meeting targets. No chance to debate those now... Far better to focus on the new news that a Labour minister once though Mr Brown was rubbish but now doesn't (at least not openly).

Happy Christmas.

Happy Christmas to you all and a happy New Year,I look foreward to some rational infighting in the New Year[ some hope] anyway good whishes to you all have a merry Christmas, Sicillian and Nigella I hope your both well, Grand Voyager.

The current incumbents in office haven't done the best job of steering our economy - but then again, when manufacturing industry has increasingly packed up and moved East because it's significantly cheaper, and the financial services sector on the rise, it was probably a logical decision to encourage that sector, go easy on the regulation, and get taken in by their charms. When times are good, which policy is more palatable to the electorate - saving up for a rainy day or cutting taxes / increasing spending?

Bearing in mind many other countries were taken in by the lures of the financial services sector, it would be interesting to see an objective analysis of the extent to which government policy got us into this mess, and the extent to which our industry profile did. Don't forget that despite the negative reaction over here to Gordon, the head of the IMF recently praised him for his tackling of the crisis...

However, it's also worth considering how well the Blue Party would have done / will do. I seem to recall that before the recession hit, they were advocating increased deregulation for the financial services sector. They still seem as committed to the private sector and the concept of a "free market" as a "one size fits all" solution to everything, despite numerous examples that the concept does not reduce prices or increase performance.

On the education front they'd apparently like the majority of schools to become Academies, which can opt out of the National Curriculum and the nationally agreed pay scales / conditions of service. "Successful" schools (presumably those with high exam pass rates) would be allowed to expand, whilst less successful schools would be closed. Right - so what about all the children who've been attending the less successful schools (many of whom come from families who don't value education highly) - surely they'd bring down the pass rate in the newly expanded more successful schools? Besides which, if they can opt out of the national pay scales, what's to stop them awarding their head teachers executive-style salaries (which of course would have to be paid from the public purse) which the government would be powerless to stop as they were technically no longer in the public sector, although financed by it?

Remember that the leader of the Blue Party used to work in PR...

Personally, although there's much wrong with the Red Party, I'd personally say "better the devil you know"...

Anyway, the civil servants who craft the details of policies and implement them will be the same whoever's in charge...

29 rhino

#My son reads this blog (he strangely has an interest in politics at the age of 11) but I don't really want him reading words like that - I appreciate a few ***s don't hide the meaning or the word but I simply don't want my son reading it. It gives it an element of acceptability - which there shouldn't be.

Grow up man/woman he probably knows more rude words than you do.

And what part of Honourable in these people's job title apply! From bottom to top quite simply none can or should be trusted!

I am puzzled by Sir John Chillcots comments regarding his decision to delay Gordon Brown giving evidence to the Iraq War inquiry until after a general election. The delay is to avoid the occasion "being used for political advantage" and the inquiry committee is "determined to remain firmly outside party politics" so will not hear from ministers still in roles about which they would be questioned.

The two comments above seem to be contradictory. The Iraq war is a major issue on the political landscape, and the public have a right to know about the actions of the key players involved in the decision. Especially as one of them is bidding to become prime minister again.

And what is this "political advantage" he speaks of, and advantageous to who ? I doubt very much that Gordon Brown or New Labour stand to gain anything from his version of events. And the other parties are not actually involved in the enquiry directly so how can it be advantageous to them ? Other than the fact the Gordon Brown is unlikely to be seen in a good light, of course. But public perception or reaction to what is said should not be the concern of Sir John Chillcot or his committee. Far from remaining outside party politics, Sir John Chillcot seems to be allowing party politics to dictate his schedule.

This just looks like another cosy establishment deal, and is immensely damaging to the enquiry. WMD ? - Whitehall Murky Decision - I think.

The only positive thing about this is that after the election Gordon Brown will have much more time on his hands to spend with the committee. I can here him now ....."It was a global invasion, it started in America.."

35 grand voyager

"Grow up man/woman he probably knows more rude words than you do."
===================================================================

I couldn't agree more - another symptom of Browns Broken Britain.

35 Grand Voyager
Grow up man/woman he probably knows more rude words than you do.

Couldn't have said it better myself. A merry Christmas to you! And to all bloggers!

Hutton just about sums up this whole lot. No conviction, no belief and no gonads.

New Labour are pathetic. They cannot even run their party properly, why on earth did you people trust them to run the country?

Nice one Nick - DC will be very appreciative ! This topic will lie here with its odour being slowly released for maximum effect over the holidays.

I sincerely hope that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will redeploy you to Question Time or Newsnight in the event of DC creeping in. Your bias in your current post will be intolerable.

On another message board, I described Gordon Brown as a humourless, droning, gurning bore.

It has been pointed out to me that this is very offensive.

So I would like to apologise. If you are a humourless, droning, gurning bore, I apologise for comparing you with the Prime Minister.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

How strange that Hutton was so coy about owning up to this quote. Most politicians would be only too pleased to be able to claim that they made a prediction 3 years ago that turned out to be absolutely spot on.

So this is the state of our politicians. You ask a direct yes or no question and instead get something completely different. That took quite a few attempts to get the truth out.

Couldn't Hutton have just been honest from the start and come out with it rather than all this rubbish he spouted for a while before telling the truth.

The fact that he took so long only leads me to conclude that he has severe problems being able to tell the truth, which means that most of what he said (excluding the main point of it all) must have been a lie, which means that he really doesn't think Gordon is good and is just saying that because he's being interviewed.

This should be the new technique of interviewing politicians, put an electric shock device on them and every time they hessitate, pause, delay a response, avoid the topic, change the subject, give an answer that makes no sense to anybody except their political friends, etc. then they should be shocked.

I'd be quite happy to see the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ implement this the next time they want to interview politicians. If they truly want more openness and transparency in politics then we as the public should help them achieve their goals.

Yeah right, like that will ever happen.

Ah well, come on christmas holidays. Merry Christmas ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, have a good one and see you in 2010. The election year cometh at last.

38 strictly pickled

I couldn't agree more - another symptom of Browns Broken Britain.

I think you could go back to the ancient Brits for that one. I know you want to blame labour for everything thats wrong,But I think old chap you need a little Christmas spirit, I knew all the words when I was eleven and GB wasn't even born then and probably not you.

Take a tot and good whishes to you over the festive season.

I think Gord's strategy for the general election will be to position himself as a global leader hoping that all the sound bites and posing pictures with real leaders will sway votes his way.

I love Hutton's comments and as well as being very true would seem to indicate that he was not the only one saying it. Just a pity the spineless cabinet didnt go for him much earlier.

The delay in getting Gord to give evidence at the iraq enquiry is un-forgivable. Boy must he have some skeletons in the closet.

Final thing, why is Mandy making press statements regarding funding for universities? Taste of things to come!

Let get rid of this old trash. Time for some new trash!

Nick - while you are on the subject of Brown.
Can you let us know why Brown does not have to appear before Chilcott until after the election.
What is the Westminster story on this.
Is the Chilcott enquiry biased in any way.

Is this the Westminster Village News, Christmas Edition Gossip page?

Hmm... I think some posters here need to remember that NR treads a fine line in his particular position; he's obliged to give us as much information as he can about what's going on in the political sphere, as part of his job... and yet, if he were to simply come here and blab every embarrassing fact about a politician he comes across verbatim, he would soon lose the trust of the politicans and they would make sure not to tell him anything of any note, thus making his job far more difficult.

I really wish some of you would stop trying to 'shoot the messenger' every time you read something on this blog that doesn't meet your specific approval.

Anyway, while I'm here - a merry Christmas to Nick and his team, and to all the regular contributors to this blog. May we have many more interesting discussions in the future! :o)

And on a final note; if badgercourage should happen to wander in today, I wanted to say thanks. The blog about the SNP's inclusion in the planned televised debates was closed before I got back to it, but before that happened you managed to field several questions/arguments which were directed at me, in pretty-much exactly the same way that I would have done had I been able to. So, cheers for that.

listening to the interview it became obvious that Hutton has no spine. The weasling around giving a direct answer (the truth as it hapens) was obviously very difficult. If this was, in the words of the other part of the article, the best a 'respected and decent minister' could do then heaven help us.
There seems to be an inability for any politician to give a yes or no answer.

In the forthcoming debates, there should be a chairman who will accept nothing less than a straight answer to a question. anything less should lead to the removal from our screens of the offender.

44 grand voyager

"I think you could go back to the ancient Brits for that one. I know you want to blame labour for everything thats wrong,But I think old chap you need a little Christmas spirit, I knew all the words when I was eleven and GB wasn't even born then and probably not you."

===========================================
You may have known all the words by the time you were 11, but your posts do show that you are capable of expressing yourself without every other word beginning with the letter F. The same cannot be said of many young people today, who effortlessly speak fluent "F word", and the amount of F-words they can cram into a single sentence is indeed truely a linguistic phenomena to behold.

Not even the ancient brits could match this, and it's good of you to acknowledge that Gordon Brown and New Labour have not improved on this 2000 year old standard !

Merry Xmas to you too !

37. At 12:36pm on 23 Dec 2009, StrictlyPickled wrote;

Strictly, if you haven't realised the Iraq 'inquiry' is a whitewash in progress, you haven't been paying attention for the last 12 years.

Who gets called up, who gives evidence, who lies doesn't matter one iota. No one is under oath, no one on the panel has any legal background becasue no one was planned to ask difficult questions. Period.

You'll send your self insane if you keep asking silly questions. The whole Government machine is now politicised. Get used to it.

Well he was right wasn't he. At least so far as he went. What he forgot to mention is that Brown had already been a ** disaster even before he became prime minister, it is just the effects of his disastrous policies had not become apparent at that time.

John Hutton may have changed his mind about Gordon Brown's competence but I suspect many voters have not.

New Labour have been all about image rather than substance and now we find that they cannot be bothered to manage even the image.

The election cannot come to soon and I just hope that whatever party gets in is far more effective and efficient and has a higher regard for qualities like integrity, honesty and transparency.

In these harsh times, I'd just like to take the opportunity to wish fellow bloggers all the very best for Christmas and 2010.

John Hutton was right. GB has been a disaster for the UK.

But to be fair, he's also right to say that Gordons work rate has been good. Trouble is, work rate counts for nothing if you are constantly messing everything up.

The country desperately needs a change. Hope we'll get it next year. Doesn't really matter who. They couldn't really do any worse than;

i) having to spend billions of taxpayers bailing out the Banks so that they have sufficient liquidity to pay themselves massive annual bonuses again,
ii) encouraging a generally well run bank (Lloyds) to be dragged down by the Halifax,
iii)allowing national institutions like Woolworths to fail then helping the foreign motor industry recover via the scrappage scheme
iv)spending £165,000 for each of the 15 families helped by the mortgage rescue scheme.

I could go on...

Perhaps if we had more politicans that held deep views and stood by them
we would not be in so many war and have so many problems , but then thats what you get when yuo start selecting by qouta and target cirteria rather than what the person believes in.

I used to think that John Major's government during its final years in office (1995-7)represented some sort of nadir in British politics.
How wrong I was.