First Gordo continued Tony Blair's reorganisation of the parliamentary timetable in order to be able to act more like a Presidential administration rather than parliamentary executive, and now he has sidelined the Downing Street switchboard:

A continuation of Gordo's mobile phone style of government - a change from Blair's 'sofa' government, but hardly much - if any - of an improvement.

Rather than being s "different" style of government, Brown appears to have very much picked up where Blair left off in making Britain into a Presidential rather than Cabinet government. Brown is taking on a presidential role even more than Blair ever even attempted. He has no wish to develop a "new" style of government and politics, but is more than happy with the old way of spin and point-scoring.

Brown just can't help but reveal his Stalinist and centralist, control-freak tendencies.

Image: Beau Bo D'Or
Source: The Times

Whilst on his farewell tour of the world, Tony Blair met Nelson Mandela, who welcomed him to the "club of retired presidents". Yet he meets neither requirement. Blair is neither yet an ex-leader and has never been a president in the first place - however much he ran his Cabinet and his government like he was. He may be eligible to join the club of ex-world leaders from 27 June, but not that of presidents, how much he may have wished to have been one.

We have the Queen as our Head of State, not a politician. And that is certainly a good thing. If Blair had been President instead of Prime Minister, I shudder to think what could have happened to the country in the last decade.

Until 27 June (26 days away still), Tony Blair is officially the Prime Minister of Britain. He really shouldn't be doing a farewell tour at all yet but, if he won't let Brown take over officially, he should be running the country whilst Gordo and the deputy leader contenders tour the country. Especially since Prescott has also swanned off to top up his tan, who on earth is running the country?!

Source: The Times, The Metro