Get Carter!
- 7 Jan 08, 06:12 PM
So Gordon Brown seems finally to have appointed someone to fill the kind of 鈥渃hief of staff鈥 political advisory role which Jonathan Powell carried out so successfully throughout Tony Blair鈥檚 premiership.
, who has just been made the Downing Street Head of Strategy, has an impressive CV, holding a string of four chief executive jobs by the age of 43: the big advertising agency J.Walter Thompson; the broadcaster NTL; the communications regulator OFCOM; and most recently as boss of the top business public relations firm Brunswick.
But it鈥檚 a bit embarrassing surely that the Prime Minister who promised to rid us of spin, should have appointed the boss of a major PR firm, and the former boss of an advertising agency, to such an important role. And it will make it that bit harder for Mr Brown to denounce David Cameron, the former head of communications for the TV company Carlton, as being 鈥渁ll PR and spin鈥.
鈥淐arter鈥檚 got a fantastic brain on him,鈥 says a former rival, one of Britain鈥檚 top advertising bosses. 鈥淎 very big brain, and politically he鈥檚 terribly astute. He鈥檚 a very good professional operator and deeply ambitious.鈥
It鈥檚 thought Carter鈥檚 not a member of the labour Party, but it鈥檚 reported that he will soon remedy that. And don鈥檛 be surprised, my source adds, to see Carter make a bid for a Westminster seat one day.
The Tories have prepared a 鈥渄ossier鈥 on Carter. With Brunswick boasting a client list that includes almost a third of the firms in the FTSE 100 - and many others - we鈥檒l no doubt hear endless accusations about possible conflicts of interest.
But Gordon Brown did desperately need somebody to get a grip of his political strategy, and quite simply to organise his team in Downing Street. And Carter is a first class organiser, I鈥檓 told. Until now the criticism has been that Brown has relied too heavily on those close aides who worked at his side for many years at the Treasury, with what appeared to be a strange reluctance to bring in strong new blood.
Carter will certainly be that. He鈥檒l be in charge of all of the government鈥檚 60 or so ministerial special advisers - with just one exception - Gordon Brown鈥檚 close adviser and media handler Damian McBride.
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It feels like the gestapo with gordon brown telling us when to get our health check. what if people want to live their normal lives and not have to raise anxieties about whether you are going to get this illness or other or when you are managing quite well thankyou without govt interference which in itself can create worry and prevent you living your life. we dont all want to be monitored and gazing our navals. some of us wish to live normally in peace without being tracked by our GP like prisoners who are tagged, even by computer labels or like mental patients. If we decide that we dont want this, does this mean our GP can refuse our care? If we are too obese, does this mean further discrimination - where will it stop?
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FRAUD
When a Gordon Brown presentation is really a Stephen Carter presentation, but we are not told, is this not fraudulent? I cannot send another to pass my driving test or examination. If Brown is not good enough on his own merit, it is vital we can see the truth of it show through. That, surely, is part of democracy (government ultimately by the people) at work? It is certainly a matter of honour.
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Sir, I have stopped listening to Gordon Brown's replies to questions. He comes out with the same old mantra...'what I think is important that we pursue a sound fiscal policy blah blah, or 'these are sound, costed evaluations of what we can expect, blah, blah' But he never answers the question as demonstrated yesterday when he announced new policy iniatives over health screening. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, as he does not have the rescources, the BMA are not on board, and he is only competing with Cameron as to how to privatise faster than the Tories. End of.
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Gordon Brown hasn't kept many of his promises has he! What happened to announcing everything to the commons- yesterday he announced all that stuff about the NHS in a speech to the media!
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Head of NTL? So a uk racking up massive debt then a sell off?
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Wonder how Stephen Carter will spin himself out of today's announcement from Royal Mail (of which he was a director until this week) of the closure of 18 rural post offices
in the Scottish Highlands? After consultation a further eleven are
due to get their service cut back.
Not the best way to start his new job trying to dig Gordon B out of
the holes he keeps falling into??!
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Oh, for the return of the days, not so very long ago, when Civil Servants were bred, not imported. They were so well regarded that they advised businesses, even, rather than the situation now, where even the Treasury has to be advised by Bankres/Lawyers. Ah Me, nostalgia! [I'm allowed! I'm close to seventy and totally brassed off with what has happened to this once proud nation!]
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