Lying Works – Honest

There is a fundamental dishonesty to Gordon Brown that, considered objectively, is astounding. I say 'considered objectively' for good reason.

It is easy, given the daily hurly-burly of the political world, not least the endless quest for new headlines, to lose sight of a number of fundamentals.

So here are just a couple of those fundamentals.

For 10 years, Gordon Brown nurtured am immense grievance that he was not prime minister. This did not stop him from claiming that he was the real power in Tony Blair's government. Nor did it prevent him from consistently conspiring and spinning against Tony Blair (a man who it is impossible not feel profound contempt towards but who was at least, however improbably, the democratically elected prime minister).

Having, however, finally heaved his way to the top of the greasy pole (which no popular mandate, please note), from which, eyes bulging, he at once began to gaze in immense self-satisfaction, he then declared that it was time for a new beginning.

Wait, wait, wait, you cry. One minute he is asserting that he alone is the architect of New Labour, the stern and vigilant guardian of an unprecedented decade of economic growth, the mastermind behind three election victories (interesting he could do this last time without apparently any idea of where the money came from). The next he is proclaiming the need for a new, sober, spin-free start. So what exactly has he been up to for the last 10 years? Was it another Gordon Brown who was chancellor? Can there really be two of them rattling around?

I realise that in writing this I am hardly laying claim to anything new. It is not as though this essential falsehood on Brown's part has not widely publicised. But his overwhelming need to have his cake and eat it remains a key fact in any assessment of the man.

Point two: the referendum. Or, rather, not the referendum. Whether or not Brown personally supported the manifesto pledge in 2005 to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution is irrelevant. Ditto his own views on the desirability or otherwise of the Constitution, aka Treaty. The only point that matters is that his party, whose election campaign he oversaw, explicitly promised one.

And now, because he knows he will lose it, there isn't going to be one. In other words, he has lied. It is as simple as that.

This from the man who can hardly stop boasting about his 'moral compass'. The effrontery is staggering.

Needless to say, if there is an election this autumn – and I am certain there won't be for the simple reason that Brown can't absolutely guarantee he will win it, meaning his premiership will have ended in shortlived ignominy – you can be sure there will be no more silly talk on his part about a referendum.

He is creepy beyond parody.