Brown must play his last card right

I WAS watching Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday and there sitting next to Tony Blair with an even more glum face than usual, was our Iron Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

He has every reason to be despondent, for a day does not pass without further bad news on the economy.

2003 is meant to be Gordon’s big year. You may recall that, back in 1994, Gordon Brown made a famous deal with Tony Blair that he would not challenge for the leadership in return for being made Chancellor and having control over domestic policy.

Tony was to be given free reign over foreign affairs and retire midway through a second term so Mr Brown could become Prime Minister and establish a Labour dynasty.

That was the theory and, despite the occasional spat over Peter Mandelson’s behaviour and the disloyal briefings of Mr Brown’s press aide, Charlie Whelan, all went swimmingly.

For three years, Mr Brown followed Tory spending plans and won a reputation for prudence and caution - almost unknown for Labour chancellors. He was still raising taxes, but by doing it indirectly on items such as pensions and petrol, it didn’t seem to hurt that much.

Tony also has his ambitions and the suggestions of him becoming president of Europe were no joke. A new constitution for the European Union is being crafted by Valery Giscard D’Estaing and many foreign correspondents, with their finger on the continental pulse, foresee a European head of state being created and Tony Blair being the first person to occupy that hot seat. There’s also the suggestion of a European army to go with a European foreign policy and then there’s the question of British membership of the euro.

But, as Rabbie Burns reminds us, "the best laid schemes o’ mice and men, aft gang a-gley".

The Iron Chancellor has become Rust Bucket Brown. As the economy struggles under the weight of his high taxes and layers of suffocating regulation the tax receipts are dwindling and his obese spending plans cannot be funded. He’s having to borrow money and the whole house of cards is falling down around him.

In April, our National Insurance contributions go up and the stock market continues to fall - now lower than it was back in 1992. This hurts us all as our pensions drop in value and we have to work longer to make up.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair has finally decided to back George W Bush rather than side with the French and Germans after President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder stuffed him with a backstairs deal at the Nice summit last year.