Assuming that Gordon Brown wins the Labour Party vote and takes over as PM next month, what do you guys think he will be like as a PM? How will he be different from Blair?

<regurgitating BBC news>Personally, I'm a bit cynical about them dropping "New Labour" from the website and ditching the Blair image of charm and spin, because Brown was one of the leading architects of the New Labour regime.</regurgitating BBC news>
But where was Brown when Blair was invading Iraq? Where was he when all this betrayal of socialist ideals was going on? Trident. Council Tax. The list goes on, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer but he did nothing to speak out. You remember the positive press coverage of Blair as he took office?

It seems a bit like a satire show (Bremner, Bird and Fortune?orHave I Got News for You?) i watched a couple of weeks ago where they have Tony Blair disappearing like the Tardis from Doctor Who and being replaced by Brown with the "whum, whum, whum" effect. It's a new PM, same ideas, same broken promises i expect. Brown can say as much as he wants about "policy before image" and go out of his way to be opposed to the things the public disliked about Blair (which is just PR) but we'll need to see what he actually does before we can form an opinion. Seeing as there are unlikely to be elections in the next few months (too risky for Labour) we haven't really got any say in the matter.

Well to put it this way, I'm not going to hold my breath! I think things may be a tiny bit better with Brown but the entire party is entrenched in a 'privatise, privatise, privatise' mindset which is wrecking the country.

The entire idea that we get a new prime minister without any democratic input is plain wrong, the government should be holding a general election - regardless of how bad it is for them. They are supposed to be doing what is best for the country, not what will keep them in office the longest.

Guys, sorry to wreck your ideas, but I do believe it's back to 'old' labour with the old boys telling Gordon what to do.

I hope to god he just doesn't reverse some of thatchers policies that stopped the Unions from wrecking the countries economy.

if brown wants to make his mark from the word go, he should be brave enough to make sweeping changes from his first days in office. ordering the uk troops back from iraq and afghanistan in weeks, rather than months, or years, would be a good start. cancelling trident - the money saved here would fill the pension blackhole. there are a whole load of other 'socialist' policies that he could introduce that would endear him to the british people and ensure he was seen as his own man, and not a tony (god told me to do it!) blair 2.

Bonzodog, that's not true. "Old labour" doesn't mean control by the old-boy network. Labour used to be (and i guess still is) a party supported by the workers and trade unions, Old Labour means rampant socialism and unilateral nuclear disarmament! (although Brown is opposed to unilateral disarmament)

smoker: i agree with almost everything you said there. Although pulling our troops out from Iraqistan at this juncture... The whole place would probably just collapse like a poorly-maintained temple from Zeus: Master of Olympus

Well here is my prediction... Brown will make one big change. Not sure what, but it will be out standing and a real head line grabber.

The best I can come up with is "making the NHS independent". Taking it out of direct political control. To stop it being a political football, just like he did with the Bank of England and the interest rates. There have been rumblings about excessive interference in the NHS. Not only from the usual source's but ones closer to the government. A similar thing could also happen to Education, but I recon the NHS is a good bet.

'socialist' policies isn't what the British people want, that's why socialist policies haven't won any elections for years and years. it's also why the Labour party had to get rid of them, if they hadn't we'd still have the Tories in power.

Well I live in Scotland, and we want socialist policies almost as much as we want independence!

Yes, part of the reason the voters in Scotland gave labour a kicking is because of the fact that labour has lost touch with it's socialist side. when Scotland finally does become independent, it will be a socialist government that will prevail.

I sincerely hope so. And when it does happen in a few years I'll be old enough to campaign for and vote in favour of it

Although I'm only 15 and just finishing school, I feel that the current British politics offers little alternative to neo-Thacherism.

What I've learnt about Old Labour in History studies and general knowledge they seem like the socialist old-guard I would vote for, New Labour appear to have betrayed the socialist ideals of Old Labour and embraced neo-Thacherism giving more and more power to the private sector.

I hope either Labour sheds the skin of New Labour's neo-Thacherism and returns to being a left leaning party of near socialists. I doubt the acheivements of people like Aneurin Bevan and Clement Attlee could be acheived by any politician today.

I don't know what to think about Gordon Brown, I feel like I want to trust him to save the country from privitisation hell, but I really doubt he has any inclination to uphold any kind of socialist values.

Gordon Brown, being scottish, is true Old Labour. I suspect we will quickly see a return to the Harold Wilson ways of doing things, and Labour will be kicked at the next General Election (2008?)

My question:

Who gets to be Deputy PM and who will replace his position as Chancellor?

Gordon Brown, true old labour?? Are you sure? Is this the same dude who just rejigged our income tax banding to transfer more wealth from the poor to the middle classes?

Well I live in England, and I want to see independence for Scotland. Then maybe my taxes will go down and we can stop subsidising your economy! Scotland can only afford to have socialist policies because the English are paying for it... The tax going north out weighs the oil revenues going south so you wont have that one to fall back on.

All of this talk of breaking up the Union had little or no chance of happening until recently. Since the English have started to feel "English" rather than "British" Scotland is much more likely to get it's way, it will be worse off if it dose...

i dont even see him as tony 2.0 more like tony 1.5, but what choice do people have? from what i see its a choice of socialism (labour), more extreme socialism (lib dem), almost-socialism (new cameron) or fascism (BNP/UKIP/that party kilroy started).

before cameron i was tory and proud, now i think i might just spoil my ballot...

It's funny you say that. Nationalists north of the border rant about how England is constantly profiting from our oil profits. Personally I think the economy of Scotland (nationalist vs unionist) is for economists to decide, but arguing about who profits most is ridiculous. Maybe it's just there's more needing done in Scotland (or England, depending on how you look at it) that requires tax money which everyone in the UK pays. I wouldn't go around to other people's houses working out how much they leech from the government and how much they pay in tax and then compare it to mine and complain about it. The whole point about tax and welfare is that everyone is given a minimum standard of living - tax based on how much you require government money... that'd just work out as no tax or welfare at all

You can't be serious?! We don't have a Socialist party in Westminster! Unless you count George Galloway - and he'll be out at the next election.

The Labour Party is the new Conservatives, the Conservative Party is becoming like the political UK branch of the Republican Party, and Lib-Dem has always been very centric, branching off to the right and left but never as far as labour or tory. As for UKIP and the BNP, I don't think they really care about their political agenda so long as they have an excuse and a chance to be racist bastards.