Brown and his critics must admit their errors

Not even his severest critics doubt Gordon Brown’s intelligence. They might object to the causes in which it has been enlisted, but they knew that it is both formidable and restless. Nor do the Prime Minister’s critics doubt that he has a coherent vision of where he wants to take Great Britain, what sort of society he would like to create (the assumption being that it is in his power to do just that). Again, they might disagree on the consequences of striving for greater equality of income and wealth distribution, or the efficacy of stuffing an unreformed public sector with cash. But they have no doubt that Gordon Brown knows where he is going.

Nor, in their quieter moments, should his critics disagree with some of the policies he brought with him to No. 11. That’s when control of the economy passed to that address from No. 10, as a result either of a unique power-sharing deal between Prime Minister and Chancellor, or of the differing interests and talents of the occupants of the two highest offices in the UK.