Whatever it takes is too little, too late

Gordon Brown has opened Labour's annual conference in Manchester with a pledge to do "whatever it takes" to sort out Britain's financial system.

One delegate stood up to urge party unity - a reference to the 13 Labour MPs who have publicly called for a leadership election [He'll be getting something worthwhile when Gordon leaves Downing street!] - and in a show of unity from the platform the prime minister was praised by several cabinet colleagues who said voters would not understand "navel gazing" at a time of economic turbulence.

Although there is a tendency to blame Wales' Labour problems on 'New Labour' rather than Welsh Labour, First Minister Rhodri Morgan, a long-standing ally of Mr Brown’s, has recently said:

I have been astonished by the outbursts of quite a small handful of people, MPs including one Minister of State. To think that you would want, in the middle of the worst financial storm I can remember, to change leader is absolutely insane.

I really do question their judgement, I think they are quite wrong. We need to batten down the hatches and deal with this crisis that’s affected the entire world. This is a global financial crisis, and this is just a diversion from the difficult issues we need to deal with.

Never a truer word has been spoken. Why change a leader during a crisis? If that principle was packaged, stamped with a daffodil/dragon motif and transported to Wales, Rhodri would've been replaced several times over by now.

True to form and still hiding his head in the sand - although the sand is further afield than usual - Mr Morgan said it was clear voters were blaming the Government for the economic downturn.

It’s always the government’s fault. It’s an iron law of politics, if times are tough, you can’t get a mortgage, banks are toppling in America, you get a feel-bad factor and people blame the government.

The general public think more deeply than than Mr Morgan. If you patronise us, we'll patronise you. Off to sleep with a cup of cocoa and chocolate digestive (without the chocolate of course) and dream of better times.

Thinking about it, make that a glass of water (tap, not bottle in Cathays Park), as you made so much of your 'life changing moment' last year. Bring on the new man with fresh and reconstituted ideas.