Some home truths for Gordon Brown, consummate politician

The latter can always be relied on to pick up utterances and bounce them homewards, particularly if they are of the embarrassing kind. Just ask Gordon Brown.

The former Prime Minister and current Labour MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath thought he was far from the UK fray at an education conference in Qatar.

There he was, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, giving the audience the benefit of his wisdom when he was asked to comment on something "as a politician". Mr Brown shot back "ex-politician" before being reminded that he was, in fact, still an MP.

Well, you know what it is like abroad. A few hours in the hot sun and it is so easy to forget all that stuff back home, like the dentist appointment you should have made, and what you do to earn a crust.

Perhaps it was the "ex" that did it. To merely utter those two little letters is to conjure up Pythonesque visions of dead parrots and pining for the fjords.

In Mr Brown's case, there has been a howling for blood and penance. Henry Smith, a Conservative MP, says the former Chancellor "can't even be bothered to turn up to work" despite being paid £65,000 a year from the public purse.

In the Commons yesterday, Pete Wishart, the SNP MP, asked the Leader of the House how it was possible to be an MP and an ex-politician at the same time. Cue chuckles all round.

On the face of it, Mr Brown's productivity rate as an MP does appear more slacker than Stakhanovite. Of 883 votes in this parliament, he has participated in 117 - a rate of just over 13%.

He has spoken five times in the Commons since 2010, on one of those occasions on phone hacking. In any other line of work that would make for an interesting conversation with the boss come annual appraisal time.

There have been rumblings about this before, but never such open attacks as have occurred this week. Three years on from defeat in the General Election and leaving high office, is it now high time to call Gordon into head office for a little chat about his future?

The meeting could begin, as experts advise, with some "reaching out" to the employee, a quick moment to feel their career pain. After all, Britain is not like America, where there is an established system for ex-leaders. There, a President can leave office secure in the knowledge that he will have at the very least a library established in his name.

Even George W Bush has a library and museum in Dallas, Texas. While not quite finished - the room reserved for Iraqi WMDs remains curiously empty - everything else is present and correct. Presidents get to keep the title for life, too. Then there are the endless invitations to speak, raising money for others, or for yourself.

Contrast this with Britain, where a Prime Minister departs office to the tumbril-like sound of the removal van leaving Downing Street. No library, no title other than ex this and that, and certainly no thanks.

In America, even disgraced presidents are afforded a dignified exit. In Britain we want them to leave quickly, like bad smells.

Save for the inevitable cash-in of an autobiography and the odd murmuring from the Lords, we don't expect to see or hear from them again.

There have been variations on this recently, one more laudable than the other. Tony Blair has out-Americaned the Americans in his chase for the retirement dollar, be it for the benefit of his foundations and initiatives or his extensive property portfolio.

John Major looked to be going down the traditional route until his recent intervention on rising fuel costs. He took an ice age to speak out (the memory of his own backseat driver, Mrs Thatcher, doubtless an influence) but, when he did, his contribution was telling. The boy from Brixton showed he could still teach a thing or two to Eton's finest when it came to populist politics.

Mr Brown clearly thought he had found a third way. Like Mr Blair, he has earned a lot from speaking and writing, almost £1.4 million last year, but in his case all the earnings go to charity.

This noble, one might say quintessentially Scottish, behaviour earned him the praise of Lord Tebbit this week, who asked his fellow lords and ladies if this was not an example which might be followed by other former prime ministers.

Do we even need to say yes? In taking on the job of UN special envoy for global education, Mr Brown has also ensured that he has a position that matters.

It may not matter as much to the likes of Mr Smith and Mr Wishart as it does to the tens of millions of children around the world deprived of a basic education, but it matters.

Yet Mr Brown has a problem nevertheless. No matter his standing on the world stage, he remains the local MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, even if it is notable that it is not his constituents speaking out about his lack of parliamentary activity but his political opponents.

There are other reasons to be concerned about Mr Brown regarding himself as an "ex-politician". For his own sake, and that of others, the self-imposed exile must end.

Out of office, as in office, Mr Brown appears a lost soul. Unable or unwilling to do so himself, he has left the way clear for others to chronicle his achievements and failings. There have been precious few takers for the first task, and a line around the block to do the latter.

Even his own party gives the impression of wanting him safely walled up in the attic lest he walk the halls again, reminding everyone on whose watch the recession began.

And with friends like Damian McBride, who needs SNP opponents in Westminster?

In the recently published Power Trip, the former Labour spin doctor did his best to do a Dr Crippen on what remained of Mr Brown's reputation. No wonder his old boss is to be found as far away from Westminster as possible.

It may be that it is too late to salvage Mr Brown's reputation, that he is destined to be the Prime Minister best forgotten. That would fit the tragic mould in which so many seek to cast him.

Yet one wonders if Westminster and Scottish politics are so blessed with giants that they can afford to ignore his talents, be it in battling poverty at home or fighting to keep the Union together. It does not suit Mr Brown to be above the fray, to be an "ex-politician".

Politics is in his marrow, always has been, from rector to Prime Minister, and public service is in his blood.

Perhaps he needs a trip home to remind him of that.