Gordon Bown writes to my mother

Today, my mother received a letter from the Prime Minister. In a nutshell it said:

Dear Mrs Hussein

I know that people are angry about MPs expenses. I apologise - on behalf of all parties - that the politcal system has let you and the public down.

Whatever party they belong to, MPs should never have spent taxpayers' money on cleaning their moats or swimming pools, or paying phantom mortgages - and its even worse at a time when ordinary familes are worried about the impact of the recession.

Labour are determined to out things right - not through words, but through action. This is not a time for papering over cracks - its time for root and branch reform. And its not just a question of paying back money. That's why Labour have suspended MPs who are suspected of wrongdoing.

Now more than ever, families in this community need our help though the recession. Labour will stand by your family - not walk on by as the Conservatives did in the 1990s.

Okay I'm sure you've read enough, and I won't repeat the rest which sets out Labour's 'record' and what they will be doing through the recession, as we've heard this before.
He asks my mother to vote Labour on the 4th June, saying it is a 'clear choice between Labour and the Conservatives' - eh?
It all smacks of such desperation.

Gordon Brown talks of the need for a 'root and branch reform of Parliament' - but he's been silent on this very subject, while Nick Clegg has set out a radical and ambitious programme for reform. Just when leadership is needed from the PM on reform, he appears to be sitting back and saying nothing. What are his plans? What is his vision? - we don't know.
So I'm afraid letters like this targeting individuals who may be surprised to get a communication from the Prime Minister, is too little too late.
My mother, who is a member of the Liberal Democrats, asked me to post her ballot paper after she's seen the letter - and voted Lib Dem.