Gordon Brown


Why newspapers act like political parties

British PM Gordon Brown has hit out at The Sun newspaper for trying to “become a political party”. Where has Gordon Brown been living all his life? asks Roy Greenslade: newspapers have been acting like political parties for more than a century.

Drugs expert shown the door for disagreeing with government

The UK’s most prominent drugs expert has been kicked off a drugs advisory board for disagreeing with the government’s view that cannabis should be classified as a lethal drug.

Failure or foundations for Copenhagen

We are currently not on track to sign a ratifiable treaty in Copenhagen but that’s not to say we shouldn’t expect key outcomes that will set us on the path to achieve this global treaty in 2010, writes Erwin Jackson.

Downing Street plots to buy Blair’s way into the EU Presidency

British PM Gordon Brown is planning to buy off Angela Merkel and Nikolas Sarkozy’s votes for the European Union Presidency by offering them big jobs within the Union should Tony Blair get up.

Why the public finds any MP expense frivolous

When you compare what the British general public think are acceptable costs to run a home with the MP expenses for their second home, it’s no surprise that MPs are seen as money-grubbing.

Brown gets slapped with £12,000 bill

The British MP expenses scandal is finally costing the MPs actual dough, with PM Gordon Brown forking out £12,000 in retrospective expenses.

Comparing the party leaders’ speeches: in wordle form

How does Tory leader David Cameron’s recent big pitch to the nation stand up against the speeches of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher? What if we compare them… as a wordle!?

Australia, you have 3 days to get your act together on climate change

Bangkok’s climate talks have shown that the issue of climate aid is one of the main hurdles for producing a better global deal on climate change, — and Australia is lagging behind the pack, writes Will McGoldrick.

Labour pains 11 years on … and no-one is listening

This week’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton was supposed to act as a springboard for the desperate re-election hopes of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It failed, writes Alex Mitchell from London.

How David Cameron won over The Sun

Thanks to months of networking, wine drinking and yacht boarding, the Conservative Party leader wooed the Murdochs, says Andy McSmith The upshot: The Sun turned on Gordon Brown at the worst possible time.

Political snippets: A taste of the Fairfax future

The Sun has come out against Gordon Brown this morning, nicely timing it to coincide with his address at his party’s national conference. Plus, what happened to The Canberra Times?

The Sun sets on UK Labour

Gordon Brown knew The Sun would back the Tories over Labour for the 2010 UK election — but he didn’t know the paper would do it right before he made his big pitch to the party. Suddenly, the press pack only cared about one thing, and it wasn’t fiscal policy.

Gordon Brown, dead PM walking

British PM Gordon Brown addressed the Labour Party conference with his party trailing around 19 points in the opinion polls. It wasn’t so much about winning the next election as stopping the bleeding.

Gordon Brown’s disgusting act of cynicism

In his pre-election speech to the Labour Party – which in reality was just a series of lists – the British PM threw the biggest bone of all to the Liberal Democrats, says Simon Heffer. It was the act of a desperate man.

More of the same from Gordon Brown

The British PM’s re-election speech didn’t offer anything new, just more childcare, incomprehensible fiddling about with constitutional reform and a sudden concern about police response times, says John Rentoul.

Gordon Brown’s stump speech: we must “fight to win”

Nine months out from a general election, British PM Gordon Brown has addressed the Labour Party’s autumn conference with his tactics for getting the nation back on side. And boy was it long, says Simon Carr.

The British press’s school-girl crush on Obama

The British press is obsessed with whether US President Barack Obama loves or hates the UK’s pollies, giggling like schoolgirls at any perceived slight of PM Gordon Brown. Is there genuine public interest, or is it lazy journalism masquerading as political commentary?

Kevin Rudd spruiks the G20; let’s hope it’s not another APEC

Kevin Rudd’s priority has been to sell the American foreign policy establishment on the benefits of the G20 as the “driving centre” of a new global framework. But will it become just another pointless talkfest?

British Government apologises to Alan Turing

Following a high-profile public campaign, British PM Gordon Brown has apologised posthumously for Britain’s treatment of WWII master code-breaker Alan Turing, who was prosecuted for being a homosexual in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.

Hockey’s economic bombast will hurt him

Joe Hockey yesterday committed a Coalition Government to slashing spending by more than $40 billion. Then he tweeted through Question Time, before insulting several world leaders.

How G20 unity prevented (more) economic disaster

Forget squabbling about minor issues, the G20 nations have stuck to very similar economic approaches to avert a GFC catastrophe — from stimuluses to bank guarantees. And it’s worked, says Anatole Kaletsky.

Brown didn’t want Megrahi to die in prison

Newly released correspondence from the UK and Scottish governments detailing the release of the Lockerbie bomber reveal UK PM Gordon Brown made it clear to Libya that he did not “want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison.”

Harriet Harman: the new Sarah Palin?

UK Deputy Leader Harriet Harman — a tenacious hard nosed feminist — is “bringing politics back to Westminster” in her role as the stand-in PM.

UK Afghanistan commitment unravels at remarkable speed

This week’s funerals of the latest casualties has provoked an angry public debate about the war.

Christopher Hitchens: Gordon is the problem

The main if not the sole “issue” with Britain’s Labour Party appears to be the self-love and the self-pity of a PM who hasn’t even won a contested leadership election within his own party.