Commons Column 4th June 2007

It is rather a strange time at Westminster just now. We have one Prime Minister jetting around on his worldwide farewell tour and another Prime-Minister-in-Waiting travelling Britain trying to drum up support.

Meanwhile, Government ministers are struggling with their policies and their legislation because nobody knows what the new Government under Gordon Brown will be like – or, more importantly, in which direction it will be going.

Will Gordon stay true to his own principles and stand up for socialism? Will he recognise that the “New Labour” veneer has worn off and there is very little underneath? Or will he continue the Blair fudge and just do what the opinion pollsters and spin doctors tell him to do?

I expect we will see a combination of these approaches. But we don’t know. This “interregnum” is a most inefficient way of administering Government – but I have to admit that, after the monotonous predictability of the Blair years, it is quite exciting not to know what will happen next.

We do know a few truths, however. We know that Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, has taken more money from the British taxpayer than almost any other Chancellor. We know that Tony Blair has undermined democracy by his treatment of the House of Commons – and, even worse, of the House of Lords. And we know that, although more money than ever is being spent on public services, they are deteriorating.

As the almost-ex-Prime Minister himself used to say, “Things can only get better”!