Well he'd get my vote.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ing-suppliers-into-public-sector-gordon-brown

 

Doesn't it just show how far we've fallen as a nation, that such a statement looks so out of place against the soundbites and question-avoidance we're now so accustomed to seeing in all mainstream media?

Pick holes in what he says if you like, but I can't remember the last time I read an article that proposes concrete action without political grandstanding, empty rhetoric or the stoking of culture wars. From either 'side.'

I wish the Tories had a modern day equivalent of Gordon Brown. I accept not from an ideological perspective, but at least from the perspective of being a serious, pragmatic politician who is more interested in what the population needs than playing to the gallery.

 

Good article, thank you for that

 

If only someone hadn't sold our gold on the cheap which would have been worth much more now to sell off to help people.

 

Ssshhhhh you can't slag Labour off on here they will send the boys round......

 

To which the same argument would then presumably apply another 10 years hence?

 

The lack of proper forward planning regarding energy security is incredibly relevant to the current crisis. No new nuclear authorised under Labour or the Tories. He is as much to blame as anybody.

 

You mean the measures he took that were widely praised across the major economies of the world including USA

 

Yeah, coz the Tories are doing such a fantastic job aren‘t they. Now back to your wanking over Boris Posters

 

The lack of proper planning was leaving our vital infrastructure’s at the mercy of the open market without proper regulation. Just think if they were all still Nationalised.

 

Obviously the gold price fluctuates. I've seen suggestions of a possible deficit of circa £10m on todays prices at what it was sold at back in the day.

Of course, while you hold gold, you're not getting any value from it. You only gain value at disposal. What that gold sale went on to do, I couldn't tell you.

It's maybe worth looking at some other things that have cost us huge amounts of tax payers money.

Selling off Royal Mail on the cheap to Osbornes best man.
Hit to GDP from leaving the EU.
Fraud from Sunaks loan scheme.
The dodgy covid contractors VIP lane for tory donors and friends of.
The cheap sell off/giveaway of large parts of the Olympic site, including the stadium.

There's many more, and when you compare with the decision Brown made in all good faith, well, a few billion on gold is small fry, isn't it?

 

To be fair, we had plenty of storage facilities then so we wouldn’t be in such a crisis if it hadn’t been sold off in 2017.

 

4 billion pounds worth of unusable PPE and we are probably still paying for its storage on top.

 

What a brilliant adult comeback well done. VOTE LABOUR!!!

 

We are. At £700,000 a day.

 

Selling off the bullion at the price he did was nigh on criminal.

He wasn’t a great prime minister at all.

But I’d give a testicle and a couple of limbs to have him guide the country through what is coming, as opposed to either of the two we will get - or any other of their right-leaning, profit over fairness, tax cuts for the richest over services provision thinking buddies.

My and my wife between us earn comparatively decent money - but with three kids it will still be a bloody struggle and it is fact that two parent families where both work full time, even on more than minimum wage, will just not be able to stay in the black for basic living costs as things stand. It’s a scandal and not one Tory will actually do the right thing re the energy crisis in particular.

Let’s not even think about single parents, the disabled or elderly on limited income; people are going to die cold and frightened this winter. It won’t be so much heat or eat as they’ll be able to do neither.

 

That`s just in the UK according to what I have just read, we still are paying £570,000 per week for PPE stored in China.

 

I think 'widely praised' is a bit of an exaggeration .

Opinions are divided but the general concensus is that it was a very bad idea. Estimates in 2009 were that is cost the UK around £5m at 2009 prices. Even the Guardian carried an article in 2009 (see below) about the decision which came to be know as 'Brown's bottom' as he sold off half our reserves when Gold was at an all time low. There are supporters but even now the decision is highly controversial.

Remember the comments he made not realising his microphone was still on as he was driven away ) about a "bigoted woman" (a Labour supporter ) who had just given him a hard time. I believe his mask as being a man for the people slipped at that point which in part led to his downfall.

For all that, he would still be a better bet than the current generation that we have (both Govt and opposition parties). On one side we have Sunak and Truss and on the Other Starmer and Rayner oh and nor forgetting (albeit that is very easy to do) Ed Davey. I don't even know or care who succeded Caroline Lucas as Green Party Leader as they are a one Policy party who, like the current Lib Dems are not going to be a significant force in UK Politics in the forseeable future, regardless of who leads them.

The true cost of Gordon's gold sell-off
The decision to sell off UK reserves apparently cost almost £5bn

Deborah Summers
Thu 8 Jan 2009 17.54 GMT
The assiduous Chris Hope, Whitehall editor of the Daily Telegraph, has finally got to the bottom of how much Gordon Brown's decision to sell off part of Britain's gold reserves actually cost the country - a staggering £4.7bn.

That's more than twice previous estimates.

At the prime minister's Downing Street press conference in May last year, I asked Brown whether he regretted the move, but he insisted it had been prudent to ensure the nation had a more balanced portfolio.

According to today's report, Brown sanctioned the sale of 395 tonnes of the UK's gold between 1999 and 2002. Hope wrote:

The total proceeds from the sales was around $3.5bn. According to a parliamentary answer, if the gold was sold last month, on Dec 15, it would have fetched $10.5bn. The difference $7bn - would be worth £4.7bn if the proceeds were converted into sterling yesterday.

Phillip Hammond, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "Gold traders confirm that it was because the government announced in advance that it was planning to sell such a large quantity of gold that the markets became depressed. The low price Gordon Brown got for selling our gold wasn't caused by bad luck. It was a staggering display of economic incompetence."

 

Like I say, in isolation that decision was nigh on criminal.

However, we as a nation would be markedly better off led by Gordon Brown than any of the current candidates