Monday, October 01, 2007

Cameron simply lacks the upbringing. ....

Interesting article in the Observer comparing Brown's upbringing with that of Cameron and the consequent creation of their values. Here is an excerpt:

'If stable family life, reverence for education and encouragement to excel are privileges, Brown had them in abundance. He also had access to the network of connections that link the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Labour party. There are parts of Scotland where the established church's influence on the establishment party is more important than the C of E's cameo as the Tory party at prayer. The difference is that Scotland's establishment party is Labour and it privileges its own to undeniable effect. The reputation for nepotism that damaged it in last May's contest with the SNP is no invention.

Seen in this context, Brown was about as fortunate as a politically ambitious young Scot could be. Forget Eton and Oxford. He had the right family, the right school, the right university and, of course, the left opinions.......
I doubt Cameron has anything approaching Brown's faith in his right to power. Etonians have been disliked for decades. The country has only just begun to perceive the true nature of the Scottish Labour party.I shall be stunned if the Conservative leader emerges from his party conference looking as smug as Gordon Brown did this week. Never mind the polls, Cameron simply lacks the upbringing.
( Tim Luckhurst is professor of journalism at the University of Kent and a former editor of the Scotsman.')
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The real Gordon Brown.

Son of the manse my foot. It's time we recognised the important differences between a poor English parson and a wealthy Scots rector. There's no comparison.

GORDON BROWN WAS LOCAL GENTRY.

And Brown is a wee fraud, n. He had a VERY PRIVILEGED background. His father was not just a rector but the headmaster of Kirkcaldy High School where Gordon was a pupil. Dr John Brown was also the author of several books.

The Brown family were essentially local gentry who were used to controlling everything in their wee Scots town.

The family lived in a WEE MANSION - albeit called the manse or rectory - the sort of country pile which would fetch a couple of MILLION now.

Gordon's mother, a Tory like all her family, was a DIRECTOR 0F HER FAMILY'S COMPANY which did very nicely indeed, the largest company in Insch, it employed 70 people.

She and Gordon are the descendants of a long line of merchants and businessmen.

Gordon's mama as sent by her father to be PRIVATELY EDUCATED at the POSH Aberdeen High School for Girls, founded in 1874 for the DAUGHTERS OF GENTLEFOLK.

Her father was so determined that her privileged education should not be interrupted that a clause in his will stipulated: "If at my death the education of my daughter Jessie hasn't been completed, I direct my Trustees as far as necessary to pay the expenses from the estate and not to be deducted from her share."

Gordon's mother had a nice, NOT SO WEE, INHERITANCE from her industrialist father too - marrying in silk and tiara...as ordinary vicars wives tend to do...

Gordon's uncle was CHAIR OF HIS LOCAL CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION and was MR BIG locally.

Thanks to his mother's family money - TORY MONEY - and an income she received for being a director (albeit a silent one) GORDON WAS BORN IN THE SELECT AND PRIVATE AMBIENCE OF THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S OF GLASGOW, The Orchard Maternity Nursing Home - in its time just as costly as Queen Charlotte's.

Nowadays, it's a hotel, the Orchard Park, where serve up a special celebration cocktail called 'Brown Sugar'.

Doing very well during the war, by the 1960s, the family company practically had grown to the point that it practically owned the town. John Souter Ltd were builders and builders' merchants, ironmongers, timber merchants with a sawmill, electricians, masons and plumbers. They were even the village undertakers - SO OUR GORDON IS THE SON OF THE FUNERAL PARLOUR TOO - WHICH EXPLAINS A LOT :)

He is also said to have been a tough employer. "If you went about your work properly, he left you alone, but if you stepped out of line he would give you a cursing," recalls Bert Maitland, 84, who started with Souter's as a messenger boy and ended up in the ironmongery.

By the time Gordon Brown was making his early way in politics as a fervent Labour figure, the family firm was at its peak.

"As for his (Brown's) Labour politics, my father (Souter) just took a laugh to it", according to Gordon's Auntie.

"He didn't pay very good wages, but if you needed to borrow something you always could - not money, though."

Souter was said to be "a very ardent Tory, there's no doubt about that," says the current chairman. "He ran a big business and was a fine gentleman who did an awful lot for the village."

In true Tony Blair style, wee Gordon tends to exaggerate different aspects of his background to suit his audience.

We all know he loves to depict himself as the poor wee son of the son of the manse. Yet he's traded off of his mother's 'business background when it suits him too.

A few days before he was to address the Confederation of British Industry, Gordon revealed, with some insouciance, that his mother had been a director of the family firm - one of a small number of women who were company directors. It took his mother to explain that she may have been a director, but "only on paper".

A USEFUL WEE TAX DODGE, EH, GORDON?

I suppose we were an important family in the village once," according to Gordon's Aunt. "Our business was quite something. But everything has to run its course. We're finished, but my godson's just starting.

"Yes, I'm still a Tory" says Gordon's auntie, "but isn't it thrilling to see how well Gordon's done. Pity he's not a Tory..."

Auntie Flo

2:35 am
Anonymous said...

Woops, forgot to add that most of that comes from the Daily Mail and family history research.

Aunti Flo'

2:39 am
Newmania said...

Thats is interesting Flo. So uin fact Gordon has never had to worry about a thing really .

6:21 am

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