On my favourite subject of the moment, I have just realised that the topical topic of Gordon Brown’s “British jobs, for British workers, is a prime example of Gordon Brown’s propensity to ’say something, do nothing’.

When Gordon Brown inherited the top job, his grand-standing rhetoric included this statement that has now come to haunt him. His updated version of Buy British gave him the headlines at the time and, no doubt, also assisted him in the high personal approval ratings and a powerful poll lead. However, the British people have now realised that it was just that, empty rhetoric, a classic case of say something, do nothing.

I suppose commonsense dictates that we should all have known that this was not a promise he could keep, after all, it was against European rules and lets face it, no-one could or, more accurately, should have made that commitment. It is possible, that at the time, Gordon brown felt that he could do no wrong, we know after all, that he almost certainly believed that he could walk on water, but in his position he should have known better.

There are still many die hard Labour voters out there, but I suspect, many of them could see their jobs go to cheaper European labour over the coming months as companies struggle to make ends meet as a consequence of a global slowdown and lack of available credit. Finally, these supporters may start to realise that below the thin veneer, is cheap chipboard and vote this excuse for a politician out at the next election.

What is particularly galling about the situation at the Lindsey Oil Refinery is that, although it hasn’t been confirmed, it is highly likely these workers are being paid and taxed in Italy. Now if this is the case, it is not a level playing field and is, morally at least, completely wrong. I do not believe in protectionism, although I do believe in times of crisis, that we should consider some form of nationalism. That is both natural and has happened before. If the Italian’s were bidding for a contract, then the terms should have included a requirement that, at the very least, the workers were paid and taxed in the UK. Further, if the profit was being made in the UK, then it should have been taxed right here, at source. Had this been the case and, the bid was won based on a level playing field, then I suspect that the workers at the refinery would have had little to complain about.

What is disappointing however, is that Gordon Brown is now attempting to re-write history with the statement “When I talked about British jobs, I was talking about giving people in Britain the skills, so that they have the ability to get jobs which were at present going to people from abroad.” Clearly he is not adverse to insulting the intelligence of the British people. As I have said, say something, do nothing.

Now whilst Gordon Brown says that there is little or nothing that he can do to protect British workers, what we do know, is that this government tends to decide which rules they accept or apply. Take for example, cigarettes, Gordon Brown decreed that the maximum number that could be brought in per person, from European countries was 3,000. Yet the whole point of a European free trade market was that we could buy what we wanted and bring it back here without additional taxes or conditions. In similar fashion, the government has still to do anything about the ruling recently passed in the European courts in relation to this governments policies on the retention of DNA on innocent people.

This is a say something, do nothing government, lead by a man who is incapable of humility. We should steady ourselves, for over the coming months we will all become increasingly aware of just how full of rhetoric this government is and, inherently lacking in any real substance.