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The Brown bounce - how high can it go?

Blog

24 Dec 2008

Matthew Taylor

Last august when Labour was hitting new lows in the polls and rumours were rife of a plot against Gordon Brown, despairing ministers were willing to vent their spleen at any passing comrade. One I spoke to was dismissive of the view that Brown's unpopularity was simply a reflection of bad presentation. 'The public may say that don't like Gordon for superficial reasons' he said' but deep down they see him saying one thing and doing the reverse. So, he says he's for prudence and the long term but he seems to throw money at political problems. He says he's for a new politics and a big tent but number ten spits out poisonous briefings and he played fast and loose over the election timing. He says he's for social justice but he puts inheritance tax cuts ahead of child poverty'.