Gordon Brown has been speaking to Newsnight, and has said that he has learnt his lessons about using top-down government, and thus presumably excessive state control. He said:
"I have learned a lot in the last ten years. I have learned that top-down, 'pulling the lever solutions' are not always the ones that are going to work best...But has he really? I would be surprised. There certainly hasn't been abating of Nanny State legislation recently, and neither has Gordo appeared to have been moved to reduce state control in and through his own departments legislation.
"You really have to involve people and build a national consensus, if you are going to solve the challenges of the future...
"We have got, in the modern world, to be able to draw on something wider than just Westminster if we are going to govern effectively." (BBC)
Over the last ten years, Gordon has hardly been Mr Deregulation, has he? Instead he has been far more Mr Extend-State-Control. Businesses are drowning under reams of red tape, and the paperwork this produces has probably killed many hundreds of trees...
Whilst most of us know and realise that excessive state control helps no-one, and usually in fact hurts more than it helps. That Gordon has realised that people want less regulation and is thus trying to paint himself in that picture is definitely a good thing, as it means that he will at least think twice before adding more state control during his [hopefully short] tenure as Prime Minister. But I very much doubt that he will be relinquishing any of the control he has already pulled into the grasp of his Great Clunking Fist. Will there be no more top-down government from Gordo? We can hope, but I very much doubt it.
Source: BBC
