Should Gordon Brown step down?

[Blighter]

Everyone seems to want GB to resign, heck, even the most popular petition on number 10's website is about him resigning.
Listening to the news a lot of MP's seem to want him too as well.

The only reason I want him to go is because he wasn't exactly voted in or ought, so it's unfair on the British people.

So... you thoughts? :)

[Briggykins]

I don't think anyone who voted for Blair last election expected not to get Brown at some point (the Tories even put it on a campaign poster iirc). Personally I don't want him to go - I don't think he's as good a PM as Tony Blair was (and I think Blair was really good for the most part) but I think he's better than any of the others, certainly within Labour and imo in the other parties as well.
That said though, I'm starting to get disillusioned with Labour in general (mainly over the ID cards issue). But then I look at the other parties and they have issues I disagree with too (the Tories, Europe, tax/spending plans, and airports; the Lib Dems, certain environmental, defence and economy things). Maybe I should start the Briggykins Party.

[divine]

His being voted in or out is irrelevant surely, you vote for a party and it's policies rather than whether you happen to think the bloke on TV is a nice chap?

[Blighter]

His being voted in or out is irrelevant surely, you vote for a party and it's policies rather than whether you happen to think the bloke on TV is a nice chap?

So that's what I've been doing wrong :angry:

[Dymetrie]

I don't see any reason for him to step down/call a general election/whatever...

As divine said then we voted in Labour, not Tony, although this isn't the general view of the electorate.

Very little, if any, of the shock stuffs which have been happening recently are down to his actions, although the general (Daily Mail reading) populace would agree with that...

Maybe this should be in the serious forum, and maybe I'll comment more when I'm not in the pub with my girlfriend :D

[Ben M]

The only reason I want him to go is because he wasn't exactly voted in or ought, so it's unfair on the British people.

So... you thoughts? :)

The British people were fully aware that he would be gaining power off Tony Blair when they voted in the last general election.

In the current climate, him resigning wouldn't be good for anyone, even if he is poor.

Roll on the next general election. Hopefully even the plebs have had enough of Labour, and the middle classes aren't going to decide that the Tories aren't up to it, and vote bloody lib dem. I can't see the Liberals winning it, but I can see people voting for them and not the Tories causing Labour to win.

[A Place of Light]

Not for the recent events, no.

[Mark]

It was no secret at all that Blair would step down mid-term and Gordo would step up. Everyone knew that when they voted Labour in.

However, they should have learned that a 'good' chancellor doesn't necessarily make a 'good' PM. Didn't we do that one already? (John Major, lest anyone here be too young to remember).

I say 'good' in quotes because it's debatable whether you can use that term for a chancellor who, it turns out, sold the family silver and blew all the proceeds. Pulled the wool over my eyes, for sure - but in fairness I doubt any of the other lot would have seen this mess coming.

As for the question at hand - no, absolutely not. The very last thing this country needs right now is a power vacuum.

[Blighter]

But the conservatives have a cool website :(




;)

[iCraig]

No, because if he stepped down before the end of Labour's term, wouldn't someone else toeing the exact same line simply replace him?

I don't know who I want in power to be honest. Labour have made some grave mistakes, but I'm not confident that any other party is going to be better at getting us out of this mess than Labour are. When put under pressure, Dave seems to cite pretty much the same ideas as Brown, but with a much better spin, which is just the illusion of change and reform. If they win the election, we'll still see much of the same, perhaps even slightly more failings when it comes to spending and budgets.

[Matblack]

The only reason I want him to go is because he wasn't exactly voted in or ought, so it's unfair on the British people.

So... you thoughts? :)

The UK is a representational democracy, we do not elect our leaders we elect a member of parlimennt who then choose a leader from amongst their number.

There never was any reason of GB to step down and all this garbage about a mandate to govern is just that, garbage.

If this was the States and a President said 'you know what I'm not really up for this anymore, here Bob you take over' then there would be justifiable outcry over there not being an election, but here its just guff put about by the opposition to try and destablise a legitimate government.

We have our chance to make our impression on a government and thats by electing a member of parliment for our local constiuancy.

MB

[kaiowas]

I don't usually get too involved in politics as I consider them all to be as bad as each other and it makes no real odds who is in charge however in this case Labour know they're screwed, they know they're going to lose the next election and as far as I can see they're doing as much as they can to ensure that everything turns to **** in a few years time to give them some ammunition once they're in opposition, for this reason I'd like to see an election forced now before they can do too much damage. If the current events are used as a vehicle to allow this to happen then fine.

[Matblack]

I don't usually get too involved in politics as I consider them all to be as bad as each other and it makes no real odds who is in charge however in this case Labour know they're screwed, they know they're going to lose the next election and as far as I can see they're doing as much as they can to ensure that everything turns to **** in a few years time to give them some ammunition once they're in opposition, for this reason I'd like to see an election forced now before they can do too much damage. If the current events are used as a vehicle to allow this to happen then fine.

I'm no fan of Labour but I doubt this to be the case, also there is no precedent for this and the ruling party decide when the next election takes place within a prescribed timeframe.

Everyone makes a big fuss, but at the end of the day what is going to happen? We'll have the Tories for 1-3 terms depending on how they do and then it will flick flack back again. The only positive of the recent scandle is that we might see a few more independants and smaller party MPs in the next government as those who claimed masses of expences are ousted by their local parties or voters, nothing else will change.

MB

[Justsomebloke]

From my own observations I think only Peasants should be Politicians as there aspirations of Fraud are far smaller. :p
Allow me to explain.

Labour robbed us to throw in Mock Tudor beams & the like.
Conservatives robbed us for kin swimming pools & Houses.
Liberals they robbed us for a Packet of Hob nobs :D

By this equation peasants would be Far cheaper. ;D


Please don't credit me for that as I heard it somewhere, Unfortunetly I cannot remember where. :o

[Matblack]

'QUICK LOOK OVER THERE!'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057203.stm

MPs make blood sacrifice in the hope of evading the limelight

MB

[Mark]

Grade A Scapegoat.

Those in the know will know that he was the chairman of a committee that recommended changes to the expenses system which the MPs thoroughly rejected last year. He's certainly acted like a deer in the headlights the last few weeks and he was involved in blocking the FOIA requests, neither of which has really done him any favours at all, but he was correct in getting the Police involved IMO, and in the end the MPs made the expenses claims, not him.

Whether the general populace will know or even understand this is another matter. Most likely they'll take the bait.

[Briggykins]

Yup, ridiculous. This is completely the MPs trying to divert blame away from themselves. I don't think the public are really being taken in by it tho - the callers to Five Live yesterday were virtually united in saying 'Yeah, nice try, you aren't fooling us'.

[iCraig]

The texts on Radio 1 were all basically saying, "He's being used as the scapegoat, it's not all his fault"

I don't think the public will buy the story, but it's not as if we can do much about it?

[Matblack]

Nor should we really, if the bloke has taken it upon himself to throw the towel in then that fine but the important thing in my mind is that those who have abused the system and those who have let them aren't allowed to escape because of him throwing hhimself on his sword. These people are supposed to hold the most trusted positions in the land, protecting the electorate and many of them have been abusing that trust been abusing this trust, however small the think that abuse is. A lot of them need to go in my view and the sooner the better.

MB

[Mark]

How different the opinions here are from a certain other place.

One other thing I did point out there is that I do think his position had become untenable. The Speaker is supposed to control proceedings in the House, not be the subject of them, and he had quite clearly lost control yesterday. There's no way he could let that situation continue.

Still a scapegoat though in the wider context. I suspect the next Speaker, whoever that is to be, might not actually be feigning reluctance (as is tradition). How do you select a Speaker when they're almost all guilty.

[iCraig]

The guy who just claimed for hobnobs is the best bet. I mean, anybody who eats hobnobs is already in my good books.

[A Place of Light]

Effectively, we live in a two party system.....and there's an old Woody Allen Quote that springs to mind everytime that never ceases to be appropriate.

"It doesn't matter who's up there, they're ALL terrible".

However, I believe that on balance Labour have always been less terrible than the conservatives.


FWIW, I don't care who runs the country as long as they're doing the best job possible. Anyone who is dyed in the wool, whether it be red or blue, and can honestly say they would never vote "XYZ" is an idiot.

[A Place of Light]

The guy who just claimed for hobnobs is the best bet. I mean, anybody who eats hobnobs is already in my good books.

£2 for a Toblerone?

Exactly where do these muppets buy their chocolate from anyway?

[Blighter]

It's London. It's £2 for half a litre of water...