Profiles in courage

The evidence has been piling up over the years and after this week it is indisputable that Gordon Brown is a "fraidy cat". There are times in political life when you have to face the music and the freeing of the Lockerbie Bomber is certainly one of them, but again Brown is unequal to the occasion. In Scotland both McCaskill and Salmond have stood up to public questioning to make their case. Fair enough! But here the PM has even had to forgo the reflected glory of the Ashes victory because he was too afraid of Lockerbie questions.

Yesterday he made a compulsory public appearance because of the visit of Netenyahu and lamely insisted that this was a quasi-judicial matter for Scotland only. To my eyes he looked haggard and unrested even after 6 weeks of absence.

No Prime Minister in my seven decades has been so afraid to stand up to public scrutiny. They may at times have been fearful, but they all had the courage to face their critics. Brown's predecessor may well have concluded the same murky deal for the same murky reasons but he at least would have stood by the decision and earned some respect.

Gordon Brown is truly a most inadequate man.