The Spite Of Brown

Brown had been determined for sometime to make the next Government's inheritance much more difficult than it needed be. It was inevitable that there would also be some personal pettiness too. However, unlike the childish but rather amusing act by the Clinton Administration which removed the letter 'W' from keyboards in 2000, Brown would be vindictive. And so it's proved:

Gordon Brown's last act was to deprive David Cameron of hundreds of thousands of pounds

Gordon Brown's failure to turn up for the State Opening of Parliament may well have been because he couldn't look David Cameron in the face. Mandrake hears that one of Brown's final acts in the Downing Street bunker was quietly to organise a pay cut for his successor which he must have known would leave him out of pocket to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

On Brown's orders, the Prime Minister's remuneration package was cut from £194,000 to £150,000, but this was done with such stealth that no formal announcement was ever made.

There won't be much sympathy for the multi-millionaire Cameron especially when he is outlining years of painful cuts ahead. But this was nothing to do with savings or public opinion in light of the expenses scandal. It was just spite.

Thank god he's gone.

hattip: Guido