Brown: 'I'll right Blair's wrongs'

PM-in-waiting: Gordon Brown has set out his aims
13 April 2012

Gordon Brown offered a clean break with the failures of Tony Blair when he revealed his ambitions as Prime Minister-in-waiting.

He used a New Year interview to provide a statesman-like assessment of the challenges he faces.

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He praised his rival but left no doubt that on the key issues - education, Iraq, sleaze, the constitution - he would do things differently after a decade of Mr Blair.

The Chancellor offered to lead a government 'of all the talents' and announced he was ready to take on the job. But he claimed he had not discussed the timing of a handover with Mr Blair, who is expected to cling on to office until the end of June.

The set-piece interview marked the beginning of the new political season as MPs return to Westminster following the Christmas break.

Traditionally it is given by the Prime Minister. This time, tellingly, it was the Chancellor who faced Andrew Marr on the BBC's Sunday AM programme.

With no rivals in sight to block his march to power, Mr Brown appeared confident and spoke openly for the first time about the kind of premiership he would offer the voters.

His clear readiness for office served to underscore the sense of drift which has gripped Downing Street as MPs increasingly wonder why the Prime Minister is postponing his departure.

Excellence in education would be his passion, he said, implicitly acknowledging that Mr Blair had failed to deliver on his 1997 boast that 'education, education, education' would be his priority.

With allegations of sleaze dogging the dying days of the Blair premiership, the Chancellor dropped a broad hint that he would not make much personal use of Chequers or the ' trappings' of office.

He promised a new style of government which would give the House of Commons and the public a stronger voice in decisions.

But it was on Iraq and relations with the U.S. that he promised significant change by making clear that he would take on the Bush White House.

The Chancellor said he wanted a 'new settlement' to redefine the relationship between politicians, Parliament and the people, which will fuel speculation that he is considering a written Constitution.

In place of an overbearing state handing down directions to the people, the Chancellor said he wanted 'the state as servant', empowering ordinary people to make decisions about their own lives.

The Chancellor praised Mr Blair as 'a brilliant Prime Minister and an excellent leader of the Labour Party who has taken very brave and difficult decisions on so many occasions for which he should be applauded'.

His willingness to compliment Mr Blair underscored the extent to which the Prime Minister's authority has waned in the months since he was forced to confirm he would leave office this year.

Mr Blair returned to London from his Florida holiday at the home of former Bee Gee Robin Gibb dogged by his failure to comment publicly on the execution of Saddam Hussein.

Amid growing speculation that the transition to Mr Brown could trigger a purge of key Blairites across government, Mr Brown said he wanted 'a government of all the talents, and that doesn't mean just the talents of one political party. I think we have got to use the talents of the wider community in government.'

Mr Brown said education would be 'the priority' in future years, which would see spending on education rise as a share of national income.

And he confirmed that extending the school leaving age to 18 would figure prominently on his legislative agenda as Prime Minister.

The Chancellor identified the other major priorities of the coming decade as being the 'unprecedented' security challenge of terrorism, threats to the environment and the need to maintain the health of the economy.

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