Bagehot: The man with the plans

摘要

One of the claims made for Gordon Brown by his followers is that, by contrast with Tony Blair, their man thinks and plans for the long term. Mr Blair, they suggest, is instinctive, restless, intellectually of no fixed abode. No wonder Mr Blair's "legacy" is less substantial than he would wish after a decade of power. With Gordon, things are different. Gordon is "strategic". Before anything big and important can be decided, the ground must first be carefully prepared. As the Brownites would have it, evidence is painstakingly gathered. It is then submitted to exhaustive, unflinching analysis, preferably by an "independent" figure appointed by Mr Brown. Only when that has been done to Mr Brown's satisfaction is it time for the appropriate conclusions to be drawn and the policies framed to match them.