INDEED, IT'S WHERE HE'S DEVIATED THAT HE'S NOW IN TROUBLE:

Even under Gordon Brown, the consensus created by Margaret Thatcher lives on (Dominic Lawson, 07 September 2007, Independent)

It is a pity that Margaret Thatcher's doctors some time ago advised her never to re-enter the political fray. It would have been fascinating to hear her views on Gordon Brown's assertion that he was cast from the same mould as her, in that he was "a conviction politician". On second thoughts, given that Mr Brown combined this with the claim that he believed in "the politics of consensus", perhaps it is just as well that Lady Thatcher has been obeying her doctor's orders: she could well have had another funny turn.

Margaret Thatcher expressed her view on the "politics of consensus" most pithily: "It is the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies." That is exactly what Gordon Brown has done – although he would furiously insist that it is only the last element which has changed. As Chancellor, Gordon Brown did not reform in any fundamental way the structure of personal taxation bequeathed to him by the Conservatives – although he made it vastly more complicated. It now seems hard to believe that when, in the 1988 Budget, the then Tory Chancellor abolished all the higher tax rates, replacing them with a single band of 40 per cent, Gordon Brown's fury – and not only his – was so volcanic that Parliament had to be suspended.

Gordon Brown forced into U-turn on EU treaty (Bruno Waterfield in Viana do Castelo and Toby Helm, 07/09/2007, Daily Telegraph)

Gordon Brown's attempts to head off calls for a referendum on Europe were in turmoil last night as he was forced into a U-turn over the content of the new EU treaty.

With many unions and Labour MPs demanding a national vote because Tony Blair negotiated an opt-out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights affecting workers, the government suddenly changed tack, insisting there was no "opt-out" after all.

But the move - designed to appease the unions ahead of the TUC Congress next week - failed to have the desired effect. Last night the union movement, rather than withdrawing motions demanding a referendum, deferred until Monday a decision on whether to debate calls for a referendum on the Conference floor.

Mr Brown fears a humiliating defeat at Congress if the unions push the issue.

Tony Blair, more thoroughly Thatcherized, had sense enough not to buck the anti-EU sentiment of the country.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 6, 2007 8:04 PM