Gordon, You’ve Just Lost My Vote…..

Gordon Brown has just finished his speech – the one that he evidently hopes will let everyone know that he is stepping into Mr. Tony’s shoes.
I’ve only been listening to bits of it, as I rush around the house. But it seems to me that he’s lost it. Totally. He’s announced the introduction of compulsory ID cards, in the teeth of not only strong political opposition but also practical objections from security experts who say that a national ID scheme cannot possibly work in the way envisaged.
Oh – not heard this bit, but B says Brown plans to ban any celebration of terrorist atrocities like 9/11! So, no more Guy Fawkes bonfires, then. And he intends to make Trafalgar Day a national holiday. He didn’t offer any reasons for this, just took it as read that the battle of Trafalgar was the most important British war vistory in several centuries. Historians might have to remind him of a few facts, such as the fact that Napleon had decided long before then not to invade England. Or the fact that it wasn’t the deciding battle of the Napoleonic Wars. Or the fact that it was a virtual massacre – 4,400 French casualities as against 449 “British” casualties, most of whom were actually Irish.
There’s lots more – like spending billions on largely unspecified “security measures”. But’s that’s already more than enough for me. I used to think that Brown would make a better PM than Mr Tony – and he’s a fellow Pisces, too. But the Lib Dems will probably have my vote next time.