Brown on the brink

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That, at least, was the impression Gordon Brown sought to convey to Scottish trade unionists yesterday when he took to the boards of the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, though his real audience was sitting on the banks of the Thames, not the Ness. As with the theatre, the Prime Minister appeared to have had something of a makeover, striding about the stage without notes, Cameron-style. If a Scottish Labour Prime Minister cannot get a warm reception from Scottish trade unionists, he cannot get one anywhere. In the event, he was greeted by warm applause rather than a standing ovation. It was as much as he could have hoped for in the circumstances. After all, the business of government is about more than crowd-pleasing, though Alex Salmond and his Holyrood team may not have fully appreciated this yet.