Leadership

As a Rugby player I played with some excellent captains who led a team on and off the field; in my business career I worked for some great managers before starting my own business when people in the company looked to me as their leader. So I think I have pretty fair appreciation of what makes a good and a bad leader. The Prime Minister is the leader of both Parliament and the country and so naturally should be a figure of authority and have good leadership skills. Two issues today have shown how these are lacking in Gordon Brown: the first is the discourtesy shown to the Pakistani authorities by making remarks aimed at a good headline at home just before his visit there which were bound to cause offence; the second is the handling of the MPs second home allowance when having said he would consult, he failed to do so, tried to impose his own preferred policy and now is abandoning the proposals though lack of support, not only from his opponents but also his own side. Is it any wonder the country's in the mess it is?