Best for Britain?: The Politics and Legacy of Gordon Brown Book

Preface     xi
Introduction     1
Electoral asset or liability?     1
A 'psychologically flawed' politician?     3
Gordon Brown's Political Philosophy
From Supply-Side Socialism to Supply-Side Liberalism     13
Winning the battle of ideas     13
Winning the battle of ideas: setting the agenda for modernisation     14
Resolving the progressive dilemma     16
Brown's ethical and parliamentary socialism     21
Supply-side socialism     25
From supply-side socialism to supply-side liberalism     30
The politics of potential     32
The triumph of the technocratic over the ethical     35
The New British Englightenment     41
The Liberal Century     43
Gordon Brown's moral sense: 'The best head and the best heart'     45
Sympathetic Liberalism: claiming Adam Smith for the Left     47
The re-moralisation of Britain     50
Civic society and the moral limits of markets     53
Brown's common ground with the New Right     57
Gordon Brown's Domestic Policy Agenda
The British Model of Political Economy     69
The role of the Treasury     71
Devising the 'British Model': the role of EdBalls     73
Learning the lessons of the past     76
Empowering the Treasury through 'constrained discretion'     78
The 'British model' of monetary policy     80
The 'British model' of fiscal policy     83
The triumph of the City     90
The supply-side failure     93
The risk of volatility and contagion: the myth of locked-in stability     95
A legacy of private imprudence, debt and inequality     97
Reforming the Public Services: The Nationalisation of Policy Design and Resource Allocation     103
Brown's constrained discretion versus Blair's earned autonomy     106
The permanent revolution of constrained discretion     108
The Spending Reviews and Public Service Agreements     110
Helping markets work better: Gordon Brown on public services     113
The legacy of constrained discretion     119
Personalised public services: the agenda for the Brown Government     121
Balancing personal aspirations and public expectations with resources     125
The British Way of Identity and Citizenship     132
The British Way: liberty for all, responsibility from all, fairness to all     133
A matter of political asymmetry     136
The negation of citizenship in England     138
The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Question     140
The flaws of the British Way     143
The conflation of England with Britain     145
Brown's ingratiation of the sporting English     149
Gordon Brown's Foreign Policy Agenda
New Atlanticism: The New Deal for Global Governance     159
Making globalisation work for all     159
The New Atlanticism     162
A Global New Deal through a modern Marshall Plan     165
A pillar of the Establishment     168
The International Finance Facility     169
The Commission for Africa     172
The legacy of the Gleneagles G8 Summit     173
Renewing the 'special relationship' in the age of interdependence     177
The battle for hearts and minds     179
Global Europe: Convergence Towards the British Model     183
The lessons of 'Black Wednesday'     186
The 'Five Tests' (plus two)     189
The politics of 'pro-European realism'     192
Convergence towards the British model     196
Global Britain, Global Europe     199
Global Europe and the 2005 United Kingdom EU presidency     203
The supra-national priorities for a Brown Government      207
Conclusion     212
Gordon Brown's economic legacy     214
Gordon Brown's political inheritance     219
Stranded on the common ground: the fight for liberalism     220
The agenda for change of the Brown Government     225
The battle for hearts and minds: Britain as a global hub     229
A new kind of politics, a new style of government     233
Is Gordon Brown best for England?     237
Is Gordon Brown best for Britain?     242
Endnotes     246
Index     301