Labour's new leader is already an accomplished liar and coward - ( unless its Diane Abbott )

How do I know this ? Well listening to Steve Richards’s first edition [link only valid for a few days] of his programme on the Brown years in No 10.

We hear ex-minister talking about the lies with the election that never was.

We know that things were terrible in No10, with Brown moving between despair and rage - and that was on a good day. We also know that none of the narrow minded selfish careerists put country before their own ambition and tried to do anything about it.

We know that factions briefed and lied against each other.

We know that Brown lied directly to the camera about the election that never was and that it was the middle class of southern England who saved the country ( I think those of us in that category can all have a little pat on the back for that one. )

Combine this with the cowardice that all the main candidates except perhaps David Miliband have show over the massive crippling debt they run up and the structural deficit Brown introduced just ( remember this ) to make it hard for the Tories at the general election. ( This is on record when Brown was talking to a Clinton adviser who asked him why he was running a deficit in the good times and Brown answered to make life difficult for the Tories at the election ).

Brown and co got of lightly over their tactical attempts to copy the Conservative inheritance tax proposals, which they then shamelessly tried to attack latter. ( My guess is that the thing that scared Brown and his Labour skivvies was the impact on the key voter group they were denying was tipping their election date considerations ).

No one who was in Brown's government is morally fit to run this country and unless Labour have a strange turn and election Diane Abbott then it means the next Labour leader is already damaged goods.

Sometimes we have very short memories in politics - but the moral corruption of the last Labour government should be a memory many of us keep alive for a very long time.