Brown’s speech – the aftermath

Here in Manchester, Team Brown are making little attempt to pretend that the ‘no time for a novice’ line wasn’t aimed at David Miliband as much—if not more—than David Cameron. Indeed, after the whole ‘six out of ten’ ‘Heseltine’ debacle and the photos of Miliband looking slightly ridiculous most people here are shorting Miliband. If he wants to keep up the buzz that has surrounded him, he is going to have to fight to re-establish his authority.

Yet at the same time, the gloss is coming off Brown’s speech with every hour that passes. The realisation that nothing has really changed is sinking in, Jackie Ashley neatly sums up the situation here.

I do, though, think Brown has left a significant opening for the Tories. Most voters realise that there is a huge financial crisis on but they do not know what has caused it or what should happen now. A huge prize awaits the politician who can explain to the electorate in plain English why this crisis has occurred and what should be done now.