On Gordon Brown

Some weeks back, John Rentoul wrote an article mildly praising Gordon Brown. I wrote the following in response. It was on the Independent site for several hours and then removed. A comment by Ron Broxted was also lost. I don't know why Dr Rentoul removed it. It was not offensive, judge for yourself. Fortunately, my wife copied it to her site and it follows below.

"Chapeau John Rentoul"

While I might disagree with you about Blair, Anthony Seldon's baleful and forlorn wail for humility from Blair was majesterially trumped by John Arlidge in other parishes today.

This is a generous and acute assessment of Brown.

Both at G20 over the global banking crisis and this past week at COP15, Brown has shown a rare talent for international leadership and consensus building. He and the EU may have come away from Copenhagen empty handed but Brown won the moral argument on climate crisis.

Gordon Brown's principled stand beside Africa and the world's poorest countries, his insistence on firm figures for carbon reduction and defence of the need for transparency was statesmanship of a very high order.

The global stage will be diminished by his absence - whether on climate change or the global economy.

Extraordinarily and uniquely, he understands both issues in depth. He is also aware of the intimate link between the two. We have every right to be proud that he represents the UK and EU in such fora.

Many Tory and Blairite trolls may mock but their venom is no more than bile or self-loathing.

Brown has helped set high standards and high expectations - supported by Africa, the EU + others, not least NGOs, thanks to Brown and Ed Miliband the bar of climate change success has been set very high.

On climate and economic crisis: "We must all hang together or we will all hang seperately"