I disagree. I genuinely think he is standing down because it is the right thing to do. The timing, though, was planned to cause maximum disruption to the Conservative - Lib Dem talks.
Contrary to popular opinion Brown has a degree of integrity about him. I think the tribulations he's had to deal with in life, such as almost being left blind, and the death of his daughter, as well as having a Presbytarian upbringing, has had a marked effect on how he has approached politics.
He also remembers the desecration of the manufacturing base in his home town, and throughout Fife, and this is what has driven him on.
It was fairly revealing that just prior to polling day, in an interview, he talked about getting more involved in voluntary and charitable work, in particular mentioning a cause for premature birth care. It seems he already knew what was coming.
He's made mistakes, calamitous errors, which ensured he didn't receive my vote. I do, however, believe he has a lot more substance than any of the other party leaders.
It is one of his finer traits, and yet damning at the same time, that he spent a fair bit of time saying "I take full responsibility", "I apologise unreservedly", or writing letters of apology. I can't imagine any other leader doing something similar without severe prompting
Some comments in this forum, one even stating without irony that they wanted to kill him, should leave a few people in here embarrassed and perhaps ashamed. Like or loathe him, Gordon Brown is a decent man at heart, and I wish him well in whatever voluntary work he decides to do.
