Brown's compromise: Weak Leadership or crafty move?

A lot was made of Gordon Brown's so called back track yesterday, which now gives Labour's MPs a free vote on the embryo and fertility research bill. Most of the media are calling this an embarassing climb down by Gordon Brown, and on the face of it they are right.

The thing is "old clunking fist" is just a little bit more canny than people give him credit for, as this supossed back track is part of an old Blair trick. Basically, Blair's old trick was to bolt lots of crap bits of legislation to a good idea, so the opposition would vote against it, and then use that fact against them in future debates. This was most prevelant in the Terrorism Bill, where it was filled with crap bits, which the tories voted against, and Blair consitantly pulled up that fact.

But the problem for Labour is Gordon is trying to do the same, but with his own ministers. The climb down is only limited, with the free vote only allowed on three issues.

The free votes will apply to the creation of human admixed embryos containing both human and animal material, for studying serious diseases. They will also cover “saviour siblings”, which are screened as embryos to ensure their suitability to donate umbilical cord cells to sick children. The third unwhipped vote will decide on removing the requirement that IVF clinics consider a child’s need for a father, to give full rights to single women and lesbian.

But, and this is where we are seeing Gordon in his true colours, the vote on the bill as a whole will be a three line whip. So , if any of those three free votes are won by the government, they will remain on the bill for the final vote, which isn't free. Those Ministers that won this concession could still be faced with voting for a bill, on Gordon's orders, that still has those parts that the morally disagree with.

That shows Gordon's colours. He will still bully his "team" into voting for the bill.

However, this is another case of having a situation that should not have existed. Gordon yet again tried to bully a bill through, painted himself into a corner, made an embarrassing climb down, but still wants to bully it through.

Now, if he had spent the time actually trying to win the arguement, and explain the issues, instead of wielding the clunking fist, then he may have avoided this. Thankfully, he doesn't know how to do modern leadership.