Last night I read a BBC article on Gordon Brown’s earnings since he stopped being Prime Minister a few years ago. I felt a lump coming to my throat as I read the story. Ex-PMs typically have lucrative post-government careers with lecture tours and the like. Gordon Brown has similarly earned 1.4 million pounds in lecture fees and book royalties, but then given it all away.
In the run up to the General Election in 2010 I wrote how I gradually warmed to Gordon Brown during the campaign as it became increasingly clear that he was a man of true integrity. This is another indication of that integrity, and utterly amazing to see in the modern world.
Of course he was not pretty like David Cameron or Nick Clegg, nor could he control his irritation when faced with objectionable, if popular, views. In short, not a showman, nor a celebrity, not slick, not ‘political – just a genuinely good man.
It is sad that that is not sufficient to impress the 21st-century voter.
I would expect nothing less from Gordon Brown he was exactly what this country needed in these times of austerity. Our Prime Minister of that time won accolades from all over the world and we shunned him. Whatever happens now is on our own heads.