The right decision, badly managed

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Gordon Brown has today agreed “in principle” to take part in televised leaders’ debates in the run up to the next general election.

In a letter to Sky News, the PM wrote:

“What’s important for the country is that there is a wide ranging series of television and radio debates with party leaders that are also able to devote attention to the central issues that matter to families: the economy, public services, how we strengthen our communities, and how we work with the rest of the world.”

And in a letter to Labour members, he added:

“I relish the opportunity of making our case directly to the people of this country.”

Although this is the right decision, of course, you have to ask why this wasn’t announced in the leader’s speech to conference on Tuesday, when the country was watching and when Brown could have spoken about the broader narrative of the need for politicians to re-connect with the public on their own terms.

But when it’s announced the day before the Conservative Party conference, deliberately to cut into the opposition’s news cycle, it smacks of the sort of media manipulation Labour members so decried when the Sun pulled the plug on Labour on Wednesday.

And it’s not as if it’s huge, game-changing news – we all knew it was coming.

The right decision, cynically managed.