Results tagged “Gordon Brown” from Liverpool Daily Post - Outside The Bubble

David Cameron isn't one to get his words wrong. So I suspect him constantly telling us that a 'hung parliament would be bad for the economy' and that 'a hung parliament will not have the confidence of the markets' was an intentional half-truth designed to scare people into voting for him.

Actually, what Cameron should have said minority government, not hung parliament. A hung parliament can still be a very decisive parliament, if the right agreements and coalitions are in place.

A minority government is an entirely different situation, one which all but guarantees instability, uncertainty and general malaise whenever a difficult, or unpopular, decision needs to be made.

So having won the election, but having not convinced enough of the electorate that he is the man to lead Britain, Cameron is in a rather difficult spot.

General election campaigns tend to have at least one memorable unscheduled clash between member of the public and a politician. Think Tony Blair and the woman outside a hospital in Birmingham or John Prescott's right fist and a voter in North Wales.

It's safe to say the 2010 general election unscheduled gaffe will belong to Gordon Brown after his 'bigoted woman' comment after meeting pensioner Gillian Duffy in Rochdale today.

Encounters between members of the public and party leaders have been few and far between this time around. This morning, Brown gave a speech at which one of his own candidates asked questions. Yes, really. So it's no wonder that people grab their chance when they can to ask questions when they see a politician walking down the street.

After appearing to come off the worst in the leaders' debate, David Cameron's response was always going to be interesting to watch.

Much of yesterday's activities can be discounted in that respect - the Tories certainly didn't just rustle up Gary Barlow to sing 'The Greatest Day of All' to Cameron after the ITV debate. Though, even if he had done best in the debate, surely his spin doctors must have known the prospect of Cameron clapping his hands and swaying along to a Take That song had the potential to become instant political send-up fodder on the internet.

His interviews would have been the same win, lose or draw in the debate - that he enjoyed them and thought they were now a fixture of British politics. And so it proved to be.

Today, however, is a different story. Cameron, says the BBC, has warned of the dangers of a hung parliament and said only a "decisive" Conservative government would "get the job done".

His argument is basically that if you vote Lib Dem, rather than Tory, you increase the odds of hung parliament, which will be bad for the country because it'll take longer to take decisions. That is a risk, of course, but by no means the guaranteed outcome.

EVERY MP who was sat inside the Commons chamber today for Prime Minister's Questions should ask themselves the following the question: Are you proud of what you were part of?

Sure, as a piece of political theatre, it was probably electrifying. A prime minister and leader of the opposition, neck and neck in the polls, doing a royal battle over the BA strikes. Crowds of backbenchers baying and heckling throughout, the speaker struggling to keep control. For those inside the chamber, I'm sure it was a day to remember.

But for those us back home, listening on the radio or watching on TV, what did we see/hear? In 30 minutes we saw everything that is wrong with British politics, played out with two leading characters who say they are determined to reform politics.

The award for this weekend's most blatant PR stunt surely has to go to the National Bullying Helpline.

Within hours of extracts from Andrew Rawnsley's book being published in the Sunday papers, the National Bullying Helpline was weighing in to add weight to the claims that Gordon Brown was prone to bullying behaviour.

It's boss - Christine Pratt - told the BBC the charity had received several calls from the PM's office in recent years.