Writing in the Labour conference edition of the House Magazine Gisela says

When Mr Brown came to power, Labour MPs were humming “Things Can Only Get Better”, the theme song used for the party’s triumphant election campaign in 1997… Today it’s more likely to mean ‘surely it can’t get much worse’.

Gisela also said: “It became clear that not only had we failed to renew ourselves with fresh ideas”.

Gisela was at one time close to Jack Straw (pictured with him here). She is now more her own woman…

LONDON, April 5, 2004 – The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, today officially opened Lehman Brothers’ new European headquarters building at 25 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London.

Commenting on the event, the Rt Hon Gordon Brown, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “I would like to pay tribute to the contribution you and your company make to the prosperity of Britain. During its one hundred and fifty year history, Lehman Brothers has always been an innovator, financing new ideas and inventions before many others even began to realise their potential. And it is part of the greatness not just of Lehman Brothers but of the City of London, that as the world economy has opened up, you have succeeded not by sheltering your share of a small protected national market but always by striving for a greater and greater share of the growing global market.”

Doomed from that day.

Downing Street are quite wrong to state that I have been sacked by the Prime Minister as his Special Envoy for Forestry.

Unfortunately, Downing Street do not seem to have read my email of 10.24 a.m. on Saturday 13th September which clearly stated that I had tendered my resignation with immediate effect as the Prime Minister’s Envoy for Forestry and that the Prime Minister should be informed of my decision.

I can also confirm that I informed Hilary Benn of this action in a telephone conversation that took place on the afternoon of Sunday 14th September.

Barry Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent North

Barry Gardiner has been axed as the government’s special envoy for forestry after accusing Brown this weekend of “vacillation, loss of international credibility and timorous political manoeuvres that the public cannot understand”. How will the trees cope?

The former minister twisted the knife saying “The tragedy for those of us who nominated the prime minister is that since achieving power he appears to have forgotten what it was he once wanted to do with it.” Clearly the only bit of dead wood the former Forestry Envoy is interested is Gordon…

Lehmans bust, blue chip Merrills sold to a retail bank, AIG begging the Treasury for $40 billion. Creative destruction on a mega-scale. Lehmans deserved to go to the wall, tough on the employees, c’est la vie.

Capitalism is a system of profit and loss. Nobody should be too big to fail. Wall Street will figure out a way of making money again. Capitalism in crisis? Don’t count on it, there will be new fortunes made clearing up the mess. Meantime, gold looks due a bounce…

UPDATE : Guido’s co-conspirator in Canary Wharf reminds us that Lehman’s offices were cursed opened by Chancellor Gordon Brown only a few years ago.