I'm delighted that Gordon Brown has set out to "listen and learn", but then he can scarcely do otherwise. Just after the last election, Tony Blair said that his Government would be "listening". Clearly politicians feel it's the right thing to do.
Consultation is already a huge and growing activity, and Gordon Brown has presided over a Treasury that has almost certainly consulted more extensively than ever before. So is it that he, and other politicians don't see the vast apparatus of consultation as what they mean by listening?
Or is it possible that civil servants manage the consultation process, listen as they see fit and then present Ministers with their recommendations, more or less as a fait accompli?
In the coming weeks there is a great opportunity to shape expectations for the new in-coming Brown administration. Hard work ahead for the Consultation Institute, for here is the chance to secure significant improvements in the way that Government listens.
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Gordon Brown's support for restricting the Freedom of Information Act in regard to MPs does not bode well. A defining moment? Like T Blair having that audience with Thatcher?
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