It's OK to be BRITISH again!

I've just watched the first Labour Party Conference speech by our new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and quite an impressive speech it was too. He will never raise the roof in the way Tony Blair could at his most messianic and inspiring - it's just not Brown's style - but I do like the way he tends to focus on specifics as opposed to 'feel good' concepts.



Oh there were a few of those 'feel good' moments too but not quite in the 'I have a dream' Martin Luther King manner which Blair managed at his most convincing. Brown concentrated on a fairly hard hitting message, promising tougher laws on carrying guns, selling alcohol to under age kids and a return of the Matron to hospitals...a Matron with clout who can demand higher standards of cleanliness from hospital contractors and a threat of contract cancellation for those who don't live up to standards. This message is sorely needed with a vast increase in MRSA infections in hospitals across the country.

He talked warmly about the NHS and about our education system, he talked angrily about not enough being done for the poor wretches in Darfur, about not enough having been done in the last ten years about crime in our society.

But most of all - and what shocked many of the pundits - he talked about the importance of BRITISHNESS and its values. He talked about people who come to this country not only receiving the benefits of our system but owing something to it. He talked about the need for every citizen of the UK to share in the common values of decent behavior and respect for authority. It was, as some reporters said, a portion of speech that could have come straight out of the Conservative manifesto.

But thank goodness someone is talking about getting back to a standard of decent behaviour and punishing those who fail in their obligations. I'm pleased that he spoke about being British as something to admire and be proud of. I am a little sick of many of the 'politically correct' fringe who say we mustn't mention Britishness, we mustn't fly the flag, we mustn't advocate standards we admired in the past because that appears to be aimed at ethnic minorities.

Well I don't buy any of that. I think it's good and refreshing that a Prime Minister of this country talks about inherent British values which everyone, regardless of religion, colour, creed or culture is expected to adhere to. Good for Gordon. All I hope is that it's not yet more meaningless rhetoric just to capture Conservative votes ahead of an impending General Election.

Of course Brown will, for some time, be hit with the charge - 'You were Blair's right hand man for 10 years in government. How can you divorce yourself from that and pretend you have something new to offer?'

Well it's a charge thats quite reasonable to put - and one that has to be answered. Only time will tell if Gordon Brown can answer it convincingly enough to convince the electorate that here is a new direction, and a man at the helm who can be trusted.

So far though I think he's off to a very encouraging start