Gordon Brown: seeking his old self

Last year when Gordon Brown was in India as the British Chancellor, he had to contend with the rise of a certain Shilpa Shetty on the British cultural firmament.

Last year when Gordon Brown was in India as the British Chancellor, he had to contend with the rise of a certain Shilpa Shetty on the British cultural firmament. As he visits India now after assuming the mantle of British prime minister, he is having to contend with his own fall in British politics best captured in the remarks of Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, in the House of Commons, “This House has noted the prime minister’s remarkable transformation from Stalin to Mr Bean,” that contrasted his earlier reputation as a Stalinist control freak with the appearance of a hapless, bumbling Mr Bean stumbling from one crisis to another.

It all started last October when Brown indicated that he would be calling an early general election to get a popular mandate from the British people for his premiership but then decided to call it off once he realised that the Conservatives were actually doing better than expected in opinion polls. Since then it has been a virtual freefall in the support for Labour with Brown’s leadership devoid of any quality to pull it out of the rut. Most recently, Brown has refused to ask for the resignation of one of his prominent cabinet ministers, despite calling him “incompetent”. The contrast between a decisive and determined Tony Blair, with all his faults, and an indecisive and dithering Brown is all the more jarring.

And as the Tories rise steadily in the polls under a more telegenic David Cameron, British politics seems set for another major shift comparable to the one witnessed in 1997 when the New Labour swept to power with a staggering mandate.

Both Blair and Brown had long been frustrated with the old Labour’s trajectory and the constant infighting within the party, and were convinced of the need for the party to change if it were to capture the British hearts and minds. The deal that Blair and Brown struck to break out of this rut and that has shaped British politics ever since was to make Brown the most powerful chancellor in the history of British politics with unprecedented control over domestic policy while paving the way for Blair to be the leader of the party and Britain’s prime minister.

As Blair moved to transform the landscape of British politics by seizing the middle ground and relegated the extremes on both the right and the left to the margins, Brown set about exerting his control over the British Treasury with “Stalinist ruthlessness” and made sure that his reach extended into every area of domestic policy. Thus emerged Gordon Brown’s unique selling point: competence.

It’s that competence that is in question today as economic woes mount for the British people. The run on the Northern Rock, Britain’s fifth-largest mortgage lender which is being sustained by emergency funding from the Bank of England and seems on the verge of being nationalised, has become emblematic of current British economic troubles amid fears of a recession, a fall in housing prices and a rise in unemployment.

Foreign policy was never Brown’s strong suit but even after six months as the head of the British government, it is remarkable that apart from his known passion for Africa, so little is known as to where Brown stands on major foreign policy issues facing Britain. Incoherence in foreign affairs — including Iraq — has left Britain with few friends on either side of the Atlantic as France under a charismatic Nicholas Sarkozy and Germany under an effective Angela Merkel have moved in to fill the vacuum left by Blair by courting America and the EU is also being shaped more by France and Germany than by British interests.

Story continues below this ad

Brown is now hoping that he can give a new sense of direction to his leadership by making a foray to the east. By visiting the emerging centres of global political and economic power, he wants to project an image of a global leader who comprehends emerging global trends. He views himself as a foremost advocate of the positive externalities generated by the forces of globalisation and believes in further integrating China and India in the global political and economic order. Much like his predecessor, he will express his support for civilian nuclear cooperation with India after the NSG has blessed the US-India nuclear pact and for India’s entry into the UN Security Council as a permanent member. In all likelihood, India’s support for the Burmese junta and its role in the global climate change negotiations will also figure on Brown’s agenda.

But it will be economics that will dominate his visit. While India will definitely find an admirer in Brown and an interlocutor who can effectively leverage his nation’s global role in making India’s case to the international community, it is not clear if Brown’s latest foreign policy venture will shift British public’s attention from his domestic woes.

The writer teaches at King’s College London

harsh.pantkcl.ac.uk