For Mr Dear Gordon Brown and Family, because I know Sarah Brown may lurk, a support thread

[expatinscotland]

although I can't dictate that, I hope that is how it turns out.

I for one will miss you. I and my family will be sad to see you go. They've painted not just the town but most of the country red for you!

I think your heart was in the right place, though I did not always, and I think you really cared, even about people like us, in the Highlands of Scotland.

I hope when it's all over, that you and your family come home to Fife and enjoy a retirement.

We don't live in the East anymore, and it will all I can do to keep us here for now. But my husband and my elder two are from the East in Edinburgh, and all their family from Fife and the Perthshire Highlands, who accepted me, a foreigner, as their own when they were under no obligation to do so.

You are so welcome up here.

The Queen Mother, daughter of the Earl Strathmore said, 'Duty is the rent you pay on life.'

You took that to heart, and regardless of what others may say, some of us believe that, maybe even the Queen!

Best of luck to you and yours and just to know, you are not without your supporters, Mr Brown (I think that is how he is called but forgive me if not).

Well done. And, as Churchill said, 'Keep b*ggering on.'

I'm a fair way left of you politically, GB. But you've done some good things for this country and I'll be sad to see you go.

Lets hope this country doesn't value appearance over integrity for much longer (probably a vain hope).

I do hope Sarah Brown has seen this thread and shown it to her husband.

Gordon Brown is one of the few politicians who puts substance and integrity over style and image.

I feel he is a a fundamentally decent and honest man who genuinely tried to do the best in bad circumstances. The mauling of the Tory press meant he was never going to get an easy ride.

I feel very very sad he is standing down.

Dear Mr Brown,

I join with the others in saying THANK YOU.

Some of us saw past the celebrity-focus and negativity in the press and the other parties, and could see a man with a central core of honour, integrity and duty who was doing his best for our country.

Thank you for Sure Start, thank you for Child Tax Credits, thank you for the Child Trust Funds. Those will stand amongst your legacies - clear examples of working for our most vulnerable.

Thank you too for doing your best to keep this current situation calm and working as an effective caretaker while the way forward is decided between the three parties.

I wish you, Sarah, and your two boys all the very best moving forward.

Mr Brown,
Just wanted to say, I'm not a labour voter, but I do hope that you and and your family get some time together to rest and recuperate after all this publicity. Enjoy your retirement.

I've struggled with much of the style and many of the decisions of the Labour Party in power over the past 13 years. The gradual erosion of a moral foreign policy was so sad to watch. I don't know whether or not it is possible anymore to hold to a belief when the full force of the 24 hour media is looking for a story - any story. I suspect that you haven't been permitted to act and speak in a way that felt real to you for quite a while. I still think that you are a good man. I hope that whatever you decide to do next gives you satisfaction and I belive that whatever it is you will continue to work for those who most need support.

I'm so sorry you're going Mr Brown, I didn't vote for your party this time round ( wouldn't have made the slightest difference here) I do think you are a principled, intelligent and above all honest man. I found your demeanour a refreshing change from all the smooth, shallow types you leave in your wake.

I think time will show you to have been hounded out by the Murdoch media. You didn't cause the recession, unscrupulous bankers did that, but you know that.

Mr Brown,

I think you've done an admirable job in the face of overwhelming adversity. The media have made your job impossible and that has been tremendously unfair because, had you been given a chance by them and by your predecessor, I think you could've been a tremendous PM.

Thank you for bringing a bit of gravitas to politics as a counter to the fluff. It was refreshing while it lasted. I hope that you continue to exert a considerable influence over your party from the wings.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Mr Brown, you are a man of integrity, and I thought you were a great PM in very difficult circumstances. You've been mauled by the press (well the Murdoch media), but I believe that you will go down in history as one of this country's most competent PMs, who steered us through the worst parts of the financial crisis with great skill. I do hope you and your family can relax and enjoy your time together out of the unforgiving media spotlight. Thanks for everything you have done for our country. And by the way - that bloody woman was a bigot

Good thread, expatinscotland.

Mr Brown, I too am sorry to see you go. I like your stanchness, and I think you have suffered because the shallowness of the water in which you have found yourself. 'Cool' is rarely great.

Good luck to you and Sarah and your boys.

I think you have an awful lot to be proud of and I am shamed by the treatment of you by the rightwing press.

And I think the single most important thing you have done is bring in the minimum wage and for that I applaud you.

I also echo the sentiments on here Mr Brown.

You have been one of the good guys and I always trusted you even though sometimes I did not agree with you. You always came across to me as honest, caring and genuine.

Under Labour, our family has had financial security and my hometown of Liverpool has blossomed as a city.

I applaud the job you have done as Prime Minister. You saw us through some very tough times and I believe your leadership leaves behind a good legacy.

I wish you and your family the very best for the future.

I am sometimes involved in teaching aspects of public health to health professionals from Africa. They bring with them, unanimously and from a range of countries, such enormous support and respect for you: such direct contrast to the negativity in the papers here. I hope you realise how far reaching some of your good work is and can see past how disproportionate this media is in scandalising small inconveniences for the comfortable whilst overlooking life changes in the struggling.

I only wish I could make a fraction of as much difference as you have made and really hope it wasn't at too much personal expense. I respect how you do not brag about your successes but do admit to your mistakes, that is how a leader should behave. Good luck with whatever the future holds, you will be missed.

hear hear

I have always really liked Gordon (and Sarah) and agree with the sentiments

"
Gordon Brown is one of the few politicians who puts substance and integrity over style and image."

(I even liked his "bigot" comment as he said it as it was...)

{OFF POINT: and i think he looked really REALLY sexy when he was younger and even up to the last few years when No 10 finally aged him beyond belief - sorry for this slightly inappropriate comment Sarah )

thanks for the thread exp. As I said to you late in the night just before the elections, Gordon will go on to bigger and better things that PM. He has the honesty and determination to do that. Like Jimmy Carter has done so much good for humanity after his presidency waned.

(I didn't vote Labour btw. I live in a safe seat and the seat has just passed from the hands of one crony to another. Nothing to fight for, nothing to work for because Labour always wins in my constituency. Something has to change there. The seat is a locked shop like hte mafia. But if the system was presidential, I'd vote for you.)

yup, she was a bigot.

I think you walked into a terrible legacy when you won this job, with all that had happened with Iraq, and all that was poised to happen with the economy.

I admired you for falling on your sword for your party yesterday, whatever happens ultimately.

I hope it is something of a relief to you to have fought a tough battle, and acheived a fair bit of good groundwork, in many areas, some of which I think has still to become apparent. I hope your efforts continue to bear fruit while you are enjoying a well-deserved calmer life.

She WAS a bigot and I liked that he thought so

I think GB genuinely cares what happens to the country under ANY party above all else. I don't see that in other leaders. In the debates I felt he was sometimes speaking more directly to the other leaders than the public and trying to get them to REALLY think about the consequences of their policies in case either of them got a majority, rather than just putting them down to make himself look good IYKWIM. He is the least self serving and power hungry of the lot of them.

I think he is a great leader and a good man.

What a great thread - hope he sees it!

You were right to resign.

You don't believe in PR and have always been very clear on this.
To offer it to retain power would have stuck in your throat I'm sure.
Your convictions are what make you stand out and opposition to PR was one of those convictions.

Good luck.

My husband was out last night and didn't get home until almost midnight. But when he got in I told him about what I'd seen on the news and newsnight and we sat and talked for quite a long time about how sorry we are that you are no longer PM, how much we admire you and how desolate we feel about the prospect of David Cameron at the helm. You are much admired and respected and will be missed as our PM.

Awww What a nice idea!

Mr Brown I think you have been great. So many of labours policies have done so much for my family. Currently Im a young single mum trying to study with 2 todlers. Your introduciton of sure start centres has meant my children have had a second home and free nursery places with a comunity of staff not only takaing brilliant care of the children but also looking out for me.
I tihnk you have been given a really tough time whilst you have been in power and the majority of it hasnt been your fault.
I think you have always had the countries best intrest at heart and I will be sad to see you go.

Oh and I also think you look like you would give the best hugs! My best friend agrees with me too!

Well done for all your hard work. Im sure your family will be very pleased to have you back to themselves again.

Good luck for the future! x Sorry im not as eliquent or articulate as the other.

I voted Lib-Dem but I admire a man who can call a bigot spade a bigot spade. I think he had something of a poisoned chalice what with the aftermath of Iraq then global financial turmoil. I think stepping down is the right thing to do and sincerely wish him all the best with the future.

"He is the least self serving and power hungry of the lot of them."

I agree, and think it a tragedy of our degenerate media-led age that that was exactly your struggle, Mr Brown.

Good luck to you and your family in whatever happens next. May you flourish in your strengths.

I wonder when the next time the country will be in such safe hands will be