Brown’s refusal to apologise gives William Hague opening for attack

Gordon Brown's refusal to accept some responsibility for the global economic crash has presented a line of attack for William Hague at Prime Minister's Questions at noon today.

Brown's stand-in Harriet Harman, who will take PMQs in the PM's absence, is this morning being briefed on the options for countering the expected Conservative attack. She is under pressure to help her boss by showing more humility than Brown was prepared to do in a BBC interview in Washington yesterday.

"I think there is always a need for humility and there's always a need to accept collective responsibility," said Brown. "I don't think I would run away from responsibility for what happens."

But he still refused to accept any blame, saying that no regulatory system could have picked up the problems in the global financial system that contributed to the recession. "The system seized up," he said. "It was like a power cut that went through the whole financial system."

Hague has an open goal, thanks to Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, who said the Government should show some "humility" for the mistakes made, leaving the PM and his Chancellor apparently at odds over who is to blame for the economic disaster.

Even some around Brown despair at his reflex action to problems, which is to go into denial that he was anywhere near the scene of the crime. Darling and his advisers believe that by accepting at least some responsibility, the public will start listening to them again.

Critics blame Brown for introducing light-touch regulation which has proved inadequate, and presiding over the housing bubble that fuelled Britain's debt binge.

Brown's knee-jerk reaction has been to blame the America sub-prime mortgage business for the meltdown. But he has stopped saying during the 24 hours he has been in Washington.

Later today he is to address Congress on his plans for global economic rescue, and it would be bad form for Brown to tell US politicians to their faces that they are the cause of the worst economic crash the world has seen since the 1930s.

The change in Brown's stance may be subtle, but it seems to be happening.

THE MOLE: PMQs

FIRST POSTED MARCH 4, 2009