Was this a foretaste of the debates?

Was this a foretaste of the debates?

How did we rate Brown’s Marr performance?

So there we have it – Gordon Brown’s big interview on the Marr programme on BBC1 and what looks like the first round of the campaign.

I think a lot of work has gone on to to get him to this stage. He was much more fluid than usual and had some well-thought out sound-bites and arguments. He looked and sounded fairly confident.

Where he was at his weakest was when Marr challenged him on the big government spending figures and I wonder whether his responses will be unpicked.

He also looked uncomfortable when Marr asked whether he’d follow Cameron idea and have on issues like Afghanistan a war cabinet at which the main opposition party leaders would attend. That seemed to catch him by surprise and his response seemed far too partisan.

All told this was a good taster for the debates. He’s going to be tougher and more eloquent than many have been predicting.

A full recording should be available on BBC IPlayer later in the morning.

Mike Smithson

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