LONDON, Oct 7 (KUNA) — The lengthy honeymoon period Gordon Brown enjoyed as UK Prime Minister has been well and truly terminated by his decision not to call a general election, commentators said Sunday.
The opposition parties were predictably quick to cry out that he had “bottled it” (retreated) but even his own MPs stuck in the knife once it was confirmed an election was definitely off the cards.
Many said they had never wanted a poll, but criticised the way that speculation had been allowed to build up in recent weeks and how the decision was ultimately announced.
Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron accused Brown of trying to cling to power and of showing “great weakness and indecision.” The Prime Minister had been trying to spin himself into a general election campaign but had been forced into a “humiliating retreat,” Cameron said.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell questioned how someone of Brown’s political
experience could have ended up in such an embarrassing situation.
He said, “I don’t know if I can ever recall quite such a volume of criticism over a decision of this kind in the whole of my political career.
“The real question is how could it possibly be that Brown, who has been preparing for 10 years, could have allowed himself and his Government to be drawn into circumstances in which they’re forced to make such a humiliating climbdown.” He also criticised how the announcement was made “in a particular interview, given for a particular journalist in a particular way.
“This is the party … which said they weren’t going to do it the way that Blair did it. They have tried to do it the way that Blair did it and got it comprehensively wrong.” Former Conservative Defence Secretary Michael Portillo pinpointed Brown’s visit to Basra earlier in the week as the moment his luck turned, saying it was a “spin too far” (resort to propaganda).
He too criticised the Prime Minister for announcing his decision “behind closed doors,” saying, “This is cheating, this is the worst aspects of spin and dither.
“I do not know if the Prime Minister will win the next election but you are never going to see Gordon Brown regarded in the same way he was in his first 100 days.
“In his first 100 days, he seemed to be infallible. He was untouchable, gliding on the top of the waves. You are never going to see Gordon Brown reported in that fashion again.” Meanwhile, Conservative peer Lord Tebbit said, “I think the Prime Minister was tactically unwise to allow the speculation to run so strongly.
“Opinion polls are not worth the paper they are written on, in my view, through the conference season. They don’t settle down again until November.” For his part, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond predicted the move would see Brown lose much of his credibility.
He said, “He lost control of his campaign team to hype up election speculation and back him into a corner.” Meanwhile, Labour MPs criticised the party for allowing younger ministers to spin the prospect of an election only for the Prime Minister to pull out.
John McDonnell, labour MP said the decision today was an “utter fiasco.”