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McFall: Do not underestimate Brown
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| Labour MP John McFall |
A senior Labour backbencher has warned against underestimating Gordon Brown, predicting the chancellor will increasingly "shape the agenda".
John McFall, chairman of the influential Commons Treasury select committee, said Brown's popularity would rise in spite of Conservative efforts to portray him as a left-winger.
He was speaking at an ePolitix.com event looking at the parliamentary year ahead alongside shadow arts minister Ed Vaizey and Liberal Democrat Norman Baker.
McFall said: "The Conservatives are trying to paint Blair and Brown as separate and Gordon Brown as left wing."
"I've known them since the 1980s, and the twin architects of new Labour are Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. You go to the US and you see what they make of Gordon Brown - it's not how they're painting him over here."
McFall said Brown's poor poll ratings would change once he was better known, and that he would increasingly "shape the agenda".
"Do not underestimate Gordon Brown," he said.
Vaizey, seen as a key ally of Tory leader David Cameron, said his party was not taking lightly the threat from the chancellor - widely assumed to be next Labour leader and prime minister.
"We saw the glimpse of a makeover when he gave emotive interviews to Kay Burley and I think Andrew Marr, where we saw Gordon Brown the human being.
"I expect we'll see more of that, and I'm sure he's got some surprises up his sleeve. I've no doubt he will be a formidable opponent," he said.
Meanwhile Baker, a front bencher until March when he stood down to focus on his constituency details, had a warning to the Lib Dems.
He said: "We have to be bolder than we are, we can't be a third party and continue to be safe.
"We've got to take some risks, that's my message to my party."
All three backbenchers agreed the next parliamentary session would be heavily influenced by the transition to a new Labour leader.
They all said they believed the Climate Change Bill would form a major plank of next week's Queen's speech.
McFall predicted that the theme of the speech would be the balancing of rights and responsibilities on welfare and pensions reform.
He said the uniform view within government was that "ID cards within themselves are good".
And speaking on the same day a Guardian poll showed Cameron had a strong lead over Brown among women, McFall also predicted the speech would contain more women and family friendly policies.
Vaizey said the speech would focus on security and home affairs - including another attempt to extend detention without trial for terrorism suspects to 90 days.
But he said the speech would neither have the stamp of Brown's leadership or Blair's legacy.
Discussing the possibility of road pricing legislation, Vaizey said: "To be frank I think it will cause some interesting debate within the Conservative Party.
"I've certainly long been an advocate provided it's not seen as a tax but a means for controlling traffic flow.
"I would go as far as to call the government brave if it went ahead with road pricing."
Baker said the speech would continue what he described as a process of restricting civil liberties in the name of law and order.
He said: "We have to get round this argument that we always have to be tougher and tougher and less interested in defending liberties to defeat terrorism."
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