Category Archives: Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown Admits To Feeling ‘Embarrassed’ By Queen’s Knowledge Of Current Affairs

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Gordon Brown has admitted he could be left “embarrassed” during meetings with the Queen.

The former prime minister revealed that Queen Elizabeth II was often better informed about current affairs than he was.

He recalled how the Queen questioned “why have these bankers got it all wrong” in 2008, when the financial crash led to the UK entering recession.

Brown, who was the Labour prime minister between 2007 and 2010, said the Queen “actually knew better about what was happening to the country” than he did during his time in No.10.

He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: “She would listen, she would ask questions. She would be endlessly knowledgeable about everything happening in the Commonwealth.

“I was very embarrassed one day because I went in to see her at six o’clock, I didn’t know that one of the Commonwealth leaders had been ousted and a new government had been formed.

“She was telling me what was happening when I was supposed to report to her.”

While he had been in the Commons all afternoon the Queen would be keeping herself up to date by watching television and “getting notes from her secretaries”.

He added: “She actually knew better about what was happening to the country than I was. It was quite embarrassing.

“It just showed how conscientious she was, how well up on the detail, I think right to the last.

“You could see that in the meeting she had with Liz Truss when she became prime minister and Boris Johnson when he left, she could perform the duties right up until the end.

“She listened and she asked questions. I remember famously she asked ‘why have these bankers got it all wrong?’ in 2008.”

However, he stressed that the Queen would “never impose her will” on the prime minister.

“This is the modern monarchy and I think she set the tone for what King Charles and the other monarchs will do,” he said.

Brown was among the six living former prime ministers who attended Saturday’s Accession Council meeting where Charles III was formally declared as the new King.

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Analysis: Why Is Labour Failing To Capitalise On The Gaping Hole In Government?

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There is a huge vacuum at the heart of government as the Conservative Party tears itself apart over Boris Johnson’s replacement.

It is a government mired in scandal, weary after 12 years in power and looking increasingly out of touch in a cost of living crisis.

The prime minister and chancellor were both on holiday when the Bank of England made its gloomy forecast that Britain faces a recession and soaring inflation.

But as outriders for Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak fight like rats in a sack, where is the Labour Party?

Conservative Leadership hopeful Liz Truss.
Conservative Leadership hopeful Liz Truss.

Ian Forsyth via Getty Images

Keir Starmer is said to be on holiday right now, but that shouldn’t stop the party launching fierce interventions and bright ideas.

Holidays are important but isn’t winning elections even more important? Especially given their criticism of the Tories being “missing in action”.

In this brutal game of chess, surely any ruthless political strategist would see that now was an opportune moment to strike.

Certainly, the Labour Party has been describing itself as a “government in waiting” in recent statements. Now would be a good time for frontbenchers to show they can act like one.

But we have heard more from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and ex-Labour prime minister Gordon Brown in the last 24-hours than we have from Labour all week.

And let’s not forget money saving expert Martin Lewis who has long been at the front clobbering the government over the cost of living crisis.

Within a few weeks the next prime minister will be appointed, the narrative will shift and there will likely be a cessation in Tory infighting as MPs row in behind their new leader.

Once in power, the new PM will have the machinery of government at their disposal and will turn their sights on the electorate at large.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Shadow Culture secretary, Lucy Powell (left) and Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Shadow Culture secretary, Lucy Powell (left) and Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

Stefan Rousseau – PA Images via Getty Images

The public might just decide that “well it’s a new government, a new crisis so maybe let’s give them one more shot”.

Heck, it’s worked before. The Conservatives are the party who have managed to reinvent themselves time and again over the last decade in order to stay in power.

Labour will have fewer opportunities to get their messages across as the country hurtles towards the next general election.

In fact, Labour keep calling for an early election. Are they even ready for it?

Of course you can’t expect Labour to make up policies on the hoof, the Tories might even nick their ideas [again] and let’s not even go there on Labour’s decision making processes.

However, after the government relied on so-called “red meat” policies to keep its head above water, the public is now begging for proper solutions.

Perhaps now is the perfect window of opportunity for Labour to show some leg, instead of descending into their own bouts of infighting (see Sam Tarry).

Scotland aside, the political pendulum will one day swing back to Labour, but the speed at which it swings depends on a number of factors.

Pundits joke about who would want to be in government at this dire time. But if you don’t want to rule, why are you in this game at all?

It might be silly season but there’s nothing funny about the news that millions of families face soaring bills and being plunged into poverty.

Labour has been suffering from a lack of confidence since its devastating 2019 defeat.

But they have been handed a political gift in the form of a Tory leadership race – they should start weaponising it now.

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Steph McGovern ‘Throwing Up’ In Downing Street After Night Partying With Kylie Minogue Is The Story That Has It All

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Everyone has got their own work hangover stories, but we’ll bet none of them are as good as Steph McGovern’s.

The Packed Lunch presenter has revealed how she once “threw up” in the toilets of 10 Downing Street after a night partying with Kylie Minogue.

Steph recalled how she’d once been sent to No.10 to interview then-prime minister Gordon Brown while she was nursing a hangover from dancing the night away with one of the biggest stars in the world.

The host – who perviously presented the business news on Chris Evans’ drivetime radio show and worked as a producer for political journalist Robert Peston – had been invited to a party in Hyde Park by Chris, which was attended by the pop princess.

But she ended up paying the price the following day when she was sent on a last-minute dispatch to meet the PM.

Steph McGovern
Steph McGovern

Samir Hussein via Getty Images

Speaking on Monday’s edition of Steph’s Packed Lunch, Steph recalled: “Kylie was there, I was literally living my best life. I was drinking, I’d taken the next day off work but obviously as a journalist you can’t take days off if news happens. I got a phone call from Robert Peston. He said, ‘We’ve got an interview with the prime minister in the morning, you need to get it organised but you can’t tell anyone, you need to get a camera man or woman there for me at number 10.’”

Steph continued: “I was hammered. I rang the news desk to organise the cameras. They were like ‘You’re drunk, Steph, you need to go home’.

Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue

Antony Jones via Getty Images

“When I’d finally organised the camera crew, I put the phone down and was like I’m not going home yet, I’m dancing with Kylie Minogue, this is never going to happen again in my life. So I didn’t go home and ended up going to a big party at Chris Evans’ house.

“He has a guy who works for him he calls Mrs Doubtfire and he [Chris] said ‘I’ll get him to give you a lift in the morning’… So I got dropped off at Downing Street in one of Chris Evans’s spy 100 Ferrari cars and I had to and go this interview with the prime minister.”

Steph, laughingly added: “And I threw up in the loo of Number 10… But still, the interview went well!”

Steph’s Packed Lunch airs weekdays at 12.30pm on Channel 4.

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