Book description
At the beginning of the financial crisis, in September 2008, Gordon
Brown called an emergency press conference in which he declared, 'we
will do whatever it takes to restore stability in the financial markets'.
He was to repeated the phrase 'whatever it takes' constantly in the
following weeks.
As Shadow Chancellor Brown would do whatever it took to restore Labour's
economic credibility. As leader-in-waiting he would do whatever it took
to acquire the crown. As Prime Minister he would do whatever it took to
buttress his enfeebled regime, going as far instigating a rapprochement
with Peter Mandelson, a figure he had come to despise. Determined,
wilful, multi-layered in his complexity, Brown would always do whatever
it took to survive.
New Labour, as a political force, rootless and defensive in its origins,
would similarly do whatever it took to retain support in what its
founders regarded as a conservative country.
Written by one of the most influential political commentators in the UK,
the Independent's chief political commentator, Steve Richards, this
political expose examines Gordon Brown's wildly oscillating career and
the ruthless and sometimes shallow pragmatism displayed by New Labour as
a whole. Steve Richards is one of the most influential political
commentators in the country. He was the political editor of the New
Statesman before becoming the Independent's chief political commentator
in 2000. Steve also presents GMTV's flagship current affairs show The
Sunday Programme and Radio 4's Week in Westminster.
