Gordon Brown has a problem: he has talked about having "a vision for the future" and now he has to deliver. His ludicrous claim that he shelved the planned 2007 election to give him more time to explain his vision - nothing to do with the polls, of course - has put him under more pressure.

His aides are getting exasperated. "He’s setting out his vision all the time," said one. They point to his recent speeches on liberty and education - packed with philosophical musings - as evidence that his vision is there for people who want to see it.

The problem is that is not enough for his critics, who have their own motives for urging Mr Brown to use Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech debate on the government’s new legislative programme to chart a new course for his administration.

The dilemma for the prime minister is that the Queen’s Speech is perhaps the worst occasion to map out this new direction, even if he has one in mind.

Firstly the 25 or so bills are largely relics of the dying days of Tony Blair’s administration and Mr Brown does not seem to have thought up many new ideas in the four months since he arrived in Number 10.

Secondly, since Mr Brown trailed most of the bills in July he has completely lost any sense of surprise.

The prime minister will have to be on top of his game - not always the case in recent parliamentary performances - to avoid being portrayed by David Cameron as the visionary unable to move his government on to a fresh agenda.

Mr Brown probably deserves all he gets, having talked up the "vision thing" when he aborted the election. But lack of vision is not his real problem: after all the public seemed enthralled by him when he did nothing more complicated this summer than appearing to be a competent, unspun, hard-working prime minister.

Restoring that image - rather than making dense speeches citing Locke, Tawney and Himmelfarb - should be his first priority. The vision can wait.

November 5th, 2007 in Labour | Permalink