Heir to Blair or is it Thatcher?
Yesterday's SUN had which revealed that :
"WORKAHOLIC Gordon Brown has rejected Tony Blair's office in No 10 - and plumped for Maggie's old den instead. The PM has moved his desk into the first-floor office used by Mrs Thatcher during her 11-year Premiership".
This left me a little confused. That very day I had also done an interview with the prime minister. I'd met him in his office - the one where I had in the past met not Margaret Thatcher but, er, Tony Blair. We even chatted about how he'd moved the furniture about.
When I asked a Downing Street aide to clear up this confusion he replied "Ah, the prime minister has many offices" with a knowing look.
Having broadcast that story on the Today programme this morning as an example of Team Brown telling the papers what they wanted to hear I had a call to "clarify" matters. Here goes...
"Gordon's office" - the room in which he meet officials, sign papers and the like - is, indeed, Margaret Thatcher's old
study on the first floor.
"Gordon's room" - where he writes speeches with his aides, stores the usual Brown clutter and hangs out - is, indeed, Blair's old den.
I'm 
Comments
Rearranging the deckchairs, desks, offices, but the story remains pretty much the same.
Why not ask Gordon Brown to defend his pushing HMRC to take a very aggressive line with small business taxation, which yesterday, after four years, resulting in Gordon, via his proxy HMRC, being given a very bloody nose in the HoL.
I refer to the Artic judgement.
You should stick at it until Gordon gives a straight honest answer, even if that means waiting until hell freezes over.
Nick, is this "news" of any relevance. The fact it is in the Sun should tell you the answer. Most people couldn't care less if GB worked in his downstairs toilet. I think you'd better have a lie down if you are starting to worry about what the Sun prints.
and I live in a house that has probably had 20ish residents in the past, your point is what?
Heir to Thatcher or Blair is an interesting question, Nick. They stand for opposite values in many ways. I suspect Gordon Brown is able to run both horses at the same time. He has tremendous focus and awareness of the big picture. Going forward, developing practicality and social friendliness will help round the man out. If he could laugh a little more and shrug off anxieties that would be a real personal benefit and set a good lead for the country.
Looking at people, communities and organisations, and nations states, we see the headline and body text, or the main campaign versus the million small details. While the big headline grabs attention the small details on the edge of conscious perception help shape communication, influencing our response, character development, and people around us in turn. As headlines screamed panic, I noticed how the report underneath said how Gordon Brown said everything will be fine. Indeed, it will be, but I can't help wondering how much influence the almost fatherly Sergeant-Major tone of Gordon Brown has contributed to this.
In the same way many people consider Ieyasu Tokugawa is the father of Japan, looking at reports of the recent floods and how people have rediscovered their own sense of determination and solidarity in the face of danger, I can't help wondering if Gordon Browns policies and character will form a similar and equally long-lived foundation. Other precedent exists in the form of George Washington, Gaius Julius Caesar, and Qin Shi Huang. Indeed, it could be said that Gordon Brown is the father of a reinvigorated modern treasury.
Often, we walk around with our eyes shut, not noticing what's going on around us. Thinking back, my brother took a supporting role in the miners strike and witnessed first hand the snatch squads of the police in operation. A friend took part in the journalists strike at a Maxwell property where food baskets were carried up on ropes to the striking workers. I've had my own brushes with history but nothing important or worth boasting about. Looking back to the times of ancient China, with its myths of sages who could split mountains and part seas, and the period around the time of Rome's formation when the world was choked with greats, I wonder how today will be viewed in a 1000 years time.
If you wish to be immortal, first, you must live a life worth living.
-- Chinese proverb.
So does that mean, that Brown will get rid of the minimum wage and reintroduce the Poll Tax?
Oh, for goodness sake Nick, who cares which office Brown uses?
Nick
It's so good to see more evidence of the end of spin.
Well, next time you drop by to Gordons place to 'hang out', be sure to ask how your new chum is? For the benefit of the unbiased public that is...
Of course we have a new government that doesn't do spin any more.......
Er, No
So how come he didn't use "Gordon's Office - the room in which he meets officials, signs papers and the like" when he met you?
I suppose they'll claim that you're not an official.
Maybe what they've done is to plant a nice homely, but completely contrived, little story in The Sun as part of the "Gordon is Good" charm offensive.
Would they do such a thing?
So, basically, The Sun lied.
Come on, guys. This isn't a blog entry about Brown using 'x' room for 'y' function - it's about the fact they're actively advertising Brown's move away from Blair (even to the extent of going towards Thatchers) in a way filled with imagery but lacking in any substantial value - in other words, Nick's entry has demonstrated how Brown is trying to appease The Sun readers (typically the right - in a further to yesterday's entry) whilst in actuality changing nothing.
Blimey Nick! Who cares mate?
i think mostly everyone is missing the point.
the sun didnt lie, and it is note worthy.
its quite obvious the brown office has spun this story to provide more evidence that he has changed from tony blair..
Nick,
With all due respect, why? How is this news helping to inform the general public about the actual things that matter?
Why not do something on Brown trying to increase the 28 days detention period up to 90 without any real evidence? Surely the erosion of civil liberties is slightly more relevant!
Once again Nick you have let yourself and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ down.
I will send you some new glasses that aren't rose-tinted for your birthday if you like.
Well done Nick, another brilliant scoop! Perhaps next time you could do an expose on how GB kisses babies and helps old ladies across the road. Or just roll over and ignore principles of an unbiased free press, or not. Spin, spin, spin disco inferno, something something something...........
PS, er EU, pensions, incompetence anyone?
Personally speaking Nick I think this is the kind of post that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ should be proud of. Revealing the the truth behind the spin is to me what excellent journalism is all about. I think it is up to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to reclaim the mantle of impartial, incorruptible, untouchable and fair. That means if a well researched piece upsets the government or opposition so they threaten no longer to give you stories or interviews then make that the story or invite a different spokesman from a different party. If you do this then I feel the level of public support will be far too great for any nefarious adverse effects to occur
Dear Nick
I gave you a bit of stick the other day for doing what I thought was a couple of Brown Advertisements.
Please let me now retract - this article is a statement of a series of incontrovertible facts put together in a way that allows us, the clapham omnibus users, to make our own minds up.
Brilliant! Much more of the same please - at the expense of them all!
And the ´óÏó´«Ã½ pay you how much as their Political Editor for "news" such as this?
Who cares which room he uses for what? And what is the relevance of the pretentious rubbish that Charles E Hardwidge wrote? Simon Stephenson, Nick is not an official, he's a journalist. Why are the public getting so hyped up over nothing?
Nick can you stop reporting trivial rubbish and trying to make it a news story, quite frankly no one cares if you're getting upset No. 10 "lied" to you about where Gordon works. There are plenty of other things the government have been doing you can report on. How about the pathetic amount of money going to flood victims while they're quite happy to blow a few billion on new aircraft carriers. Get a grip.
The readership of the Sun is falling fast - the 1992 election was a different world to now (now internet or 24 hour news) - its a pity journalists such as yourself lower your profession by hanging on that tawdy little rag's every pronouncement... are we really bothered what a paper with Page 3 has to say in this day and age ?
Come on Nick, when are you going to get the guts to start tackling the new PM instead of pandering to him?
Dan is right that this story is about Gordon Brown framing his image. Is it spin about nothing? Well, as someone coming from a Daoist, Buddhist, and martial arts perspective, with a professional background in systems design, art, and management, I don't have a problem with this.
The world is full of truth and lies, what one person sees versus what another person sees, and so on. It's called perspective. The gap between perspective and reality is called delusion. I think, Nick might get some mileage from explaining this. It would help bridge the gap between politicians and public.
Looking at the British media, political, and public positions from the top down, the flash and brash get all the attention but the less exciting and more sound shouldn't be forgotten. If Nick could develop this, I think, it would help tilt the focus in a more helpful direction. Indeed, the change in tone could help contribute to the wider issues of drugs, crime, and terrorism. It's a subtle and long-term thing but in tune with the zeitgeist and quite powerful.
I was surprised but quite happy with this "non-story". Sometimes, saying nothing, which is what this did, can be a good thing. Its Buddhist equivalent is like staring at a wall and letting all the thoughts and feelings fire off until there's nothing left. It's use is in drawing out what people have on their mind and giving them a moment to reflect. Then, after all the absurdities and ravings have been dismissed what remains is a calm, open, and relaxed nothing.
In many ways, the Roman Empire was built on the "middle-way". For instance, when faced with a potential siege the Roman army would pass a town by. In modern business consultancy terms, it's what another comment suggested, "If something isn't working do something different." Indeed, if something doesn't work, let go, relax, be creative. In martial arts terms this is equivalent to embracing everything and nothing or, as Bruce Lee suggested, becoming like water.
You can't change the world but you can change how you see it. All hail spin and nothing.
I'm surprised that you wrote a blog on something so trivial following Alex Salmonds announcement on publishing a white paper on independence within 2 weeks-surely the most important political story of the day here in the UK!
Well, Brown is confused about the Office of the Prime Minister?
Hardly surprising.
And in more ways than several, too.
Brown won't reintroduce the Poll Tax but he WILL introduce ID Cards -- which will prove to be just as unpopular.
spot on David!
Oooh! I could have so much fun with metaphor and such like here! But I am just way too lazy today.
However, I think there is an interesting parallel between now and the Thatcher years. But it is not in the politics, or the differences in policy, but rather our reaction to the political status quo.
In the seventies and eighties the country was very split, politically. On one hand was the idea that people ran the country for their own ends. On the other was that the Unions ran the country for the Union Leaders own ends.
This was all against a backdrop of national debt, crumbling public services (oh, yes, the trains were far worse then, and so was the NHS), strikes for selfish political motives ... you get the picture.
Today, however, the country is stable, it is wealthy, it has continuous growth (as do all western democracies)and business does better. We still have poverty, but very little is of the extreme we saw all those years ago.
And against this backdrop, the politicians have little left to do than argue about dotting Is and crossing Ts. With or without them, the country ticks on regardless.
And despite what the media says, and despite what the relative handful of bloggers here say, the public as a whole knows it and ignores all of us. Quite right too!
More trivial fatuos attempts to undermine the PM.
Tewwibly wight wing, isn't the Beeb?
Nick, why has there been no reporting of snp first minister alex salmond? He is claiming expenses for his London apartment, he is being paid 2 salaries one of which he said he would not claim if elected, almost 3months ago. A donor to snp Mr Souter is running the Hovercraft pilot scheme in Scotland. The parties craftiness regarding the independence referendum "it's how you word it" after slagging off Westminster for their part in Scotland's SHAM of an election. Why why why? Sheer hypocrisy after snp's part in cash for honours.
Pretentious rubbish, Mark? I've heard worse. People don't always understand or like what you write. The same goes for Nick's journalism, government policies and, when seen from the other side of the fence, public, institutional, and special interest group reaction. This is how the world is, as Jenni Russell tries to explain in today's Guardian, with an opinion piece on .
Joss, your comment on the backdrop is interesting in that it highlight the struggle of earlier decades and the prosperity of today. Clearly, things aren't as black and white, or as simple as that, but the attention you bring to focus on people getting on with things, developing positive consensus, and the art of "doing nothing" is useful. Indeed, .
Bertrand Russell comments in his 1950 Nobel Lecture speech on the subject of power, "Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power." His concludes on Nick's crude Thatcher and Blair narrative by suggesting that the main thing needed to make the world happy is intelligence, and is optimistic because it is something that can be learned.
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."
-- Tao Te Ching
The reporitng of this matter is very significant, actually. For too long we've been making judgments on what politicians have said, without a focus on what they actually do inj practice. The disconnect between what is said and done lets you work out the extent to which someone can be trusted. In lawyerly terms, the spin given to the Sun was a misrepresentation. The point which us mere electors need to work out is whether the misrepresentation was innocent, negligent or just plain fraudulent, ie it was said with an intent to deceive. This event is a little thing to focus on, perhaps, but if someone can get away with a mispresentation on something as ridiculous as this, then what else is to follow? TB got away with the Bernie Eccleston matter, and look what followed.
Has Brown appointed you as his fave and personal interviewer and no doubt disseminator of his spins and lies, too?
He can change his rooms, his furniture, his hairstyle, to fool you journalists, but not us. We are still stinging fom his 10 years reign of terror. Blair was just the other half - the half we saw.
maybe Brown could learn a thing or two if he spends time in Thatchers office, after all our present prosperity is down to the work done in her time. will the same be true when he leaves?
The Labour Gov.{geordie the scot.} have been saying an awful lot about "housing shortage" in every part of the country, so, for Gorden Brown to now have TWO rooms for himself is a bit hard to take.
If he *let*out one of these rooms then one homeless person would have a roof over their head, AND, the labour party would get some rent money thereby negating the need to go pleading to the millionaires for cash and promising *honours*!!
Joss Sanglier, I agree with you that the country is for the most part still divided into two politically.
On one side there are those who fall into the government, media and BNP-fuelled trap of blaming everything on 'immigrants' and Muslims. On the other side there are those who know that the media has assisted in lying us into war, and continues to assist in the demonisation of minorities, and rarely reports more than half the necessary facts on anything worth knowing the full story about. (Incidently the Sun was and is a main culprit with it's front page '45 MINUTES' headline, and continuing anti-everybody-not-white, English and non-religious stories- and yes Paul Smith I agree that nobody should be bothered what a paper with page 3 has to say in this supposedly non-sexist day and age, but unfortunately many are still ignorant, happy to treat women as objects, and are not interested in the real facts, or indeed what is going on outside their own back gardens anyway- which is presumably why people still read it.)
In what way stable? Wealthy? The gap between rich and poor is at an all time high, continuous growth continues to come at the expense of and on the backs of the already less fortunate, Bliar presided over more privatisation than our previous Tory government, which Brown is set to continue, (and if you can't see the disadvantage to the workers and the 'consumers' of such previously public services, then you must fall into the ignorant category,) our much needed 'affordable housing' will be privately run rather than council- and no mention of helping those who are extremely poor and homeless. Are you one of the privelaged few this country is benefitting?
Why does GB think he needs to provide activities for the young? Of course they're bored,when mindless escapeism is what it's about for everyone now. A good start would be not working their parents into the ground for a pittance pension, and not making the majority of the population feel disenfranchised and unrepresented. Why doesn't he listen to the people when they say get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, stop threatening Iran just to be Bush's (second) lapdog, re-nationalise our supposedly public services, and make people feel like they are more than just ants for your big-business friends to step on. (And even demand injunctions when they wish to peacefully protest about being stepped on!)
But yeah Joss, the county's fine- it's 'stable'. No wonder everone is either ignoring the media and politicians completely, or turning BNP- the only realistic alternative is Respect, and that faces virtual media blackout unless it's next to Galloway's name while he gets dragged through the mud, again with a fraction of the necessary facts reported.
I understand the need to report on spin, Nick, but I don't understand why so many other things that need reporting don't get reported in full, or even at all. you've certainly researched this small issue in full- why don't you research in full some bigger issues that the public are really concerned about?
One of the essential values not shared between UK and US is that most British people and society feel and believe in the vital role of most of the health service provisions funded by a government while the US government, congress, and most of the voters in US still have no or little interest in or cannot act for the provision of most of the health services funded by a government.
'When I asked a Downing Street aide to clear up this confusion he replied "Ah, the prime minister has many offices" with a knowing look.'
- Possibly irony, implying that, like Tony Blair, Gordon Brown addresses matters of many ministers' portfolios, possibly unwontedly?
Otherwise perhaps the remark came form someone who imagined Nick was hoping to graduate to "Homes and Gardens" and couldn't care less?
Preaching from the Third Seat
In a dream Kyozen went to Maitreya's Pure Land. He recognized himself seated in the third seat in the abode of Maitreya. Someone announced: `Today the one who sits in the third seat will preach.'
Kyozen arose and, hitting the gavel, said: `The truth of Mahayana teaching is transcendent, above words and thought. Do you understand?'
Mumon's Comment: I want to ask you: Did he preach or did he not?
When he opens his mouth he is lost. When he seals his mouth he is lost. If he does not open it, if he does not seal it, he is 108,000 miles from the truth.
In the light of day,
Yet in a dream he talks of a dream.
A monster among monsters,
He intended to deceive the whole crowd.
That's a good one, Sean. This bit is worth highlighting: "When he opens his mouth he is lost. When he seals his mouth he is lost. If he does not open it, if he does not seal it, he is 108,000 miles from the truth." I feel like that all the time.
I write some comment then tend repent at leisure. If there's an insensitive idiot in the room, I stare at that guy every morning in the mirror. People of earlier generations were better at laughing and shrugging things off. We can learn from that.