Guy Aitchison (Bristol, OK): Does Gordon Brown ever sleep? Or am I dreaming that he has finally lost his touch and called for "Good Neighbour Members of the British Empire" thus confirming beyond parody Tom Nairn's view that Brown's project is to resurrect the old order from beyond the grave?
He may only have been PM for four weeks but he is currently releasing books at a rate Harry Potter publishers would die for. His latest is "Britain's Everyday Heroes", in which, according to Amazon's blurb, Brown tells the story of 31 unsung heroes "whose willing commitment to a cause or community has informed and inspired him". It comes on the back of last month's "Courage: Eight Portraits", a more traditional collection of tributes to "brave" and "inspirational" great men such as Mandela and Robert Kennedy. While Thatcher famously claimed to make do with a measly four hours sleep a night, I picture Brown hunched over his desk at the midnight hour scribbling panegyrics to whoever has particularly "informed and inspired him" of late. As he puts it himself, "I imagine 60 million everyday heroes in Britain today, each making a difference in the world." If that's the case get ready for a load more sequels.
But today was of course about politics not books. The latest publication accompanies Brown's long speech on voluntary activity which included his announcement of changes to the honours system that conveniently follow the recent loans scandal (when nothing happened).
The Prime Minister wants a "significant majority" of honours in future to go to "local community champions" and those working in the emergency services. He wants them to be recipients of what (see the BBC summary) he dubs the good neighbour MBE, "We will instigate a national and local advertising campaign of our own that will ask people to think of the 'Good Neighbour MBE'". Brown, as noted below, is still keen on the Empire thing. But this is ridiculous. Under Blair we had the People's Princess. Then we had People's Peers, whose first and last batch of 15 included 7 knights of the realm, 3 professors, and 2 OBEs out of a total of 15! Now, it seems, we are being asked to cheer the People's Empire.
