Power. We hardly ever talk about it except as an object. We want to win power – that’s why we have key seats and target lists. But the thing itself goes undebated. What is power? What should you do with it? Here’s one view:

 You start with hope. But you can’t have hope without power. And you cannot have power without being leader… There is another thing about power we should talk about … It is never given – it has to be taken. Power has to be grasped, pried away, taken … Those who stand above you, beside you – stand in your way and have to be disregarded. Ensnared. Pulled down. Bled.

Power flows from the crushing of others’ hopes.

Who’s speaking? Machiavelli? No. It’s Gordon Brown.

You’re wondering when he spoke so bluntly about high – and low – politics. Well, it’s not exactly Gordon himself. It’s from Kevin Toolis’ brilliant play ‘The Confessions of Gordon Brown’ currently playing at the Ambassador’s in London and on its way to the Edinburgh Festival.

For anyone who wants to understand the last Labour government it is essential. For those who were in the thick of it, beware – you will have acid flashbacks. One former minister said it had set their therapy back years.

It is both a ferocious and honest analysis of modern politics and a generous tribute to Gordon’s many real strengths. And full of zingers like:

Respect is a by-product of the shedding of blood.

and:

I never give the order. Just a licence. Everything is understood. And let whoever is called get on with it.

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Newark. What is there to say? The current attack line from the Tories is ‘This is a disaster for Labour’. Come again? Tories hold safe Tory seat despite a massive swing to a rightwing party which delivered Labour a victory in 2005 by stealing Tory votes across the country. And that’s bad news for Labour.

The facts are these. The Tory vote fell by 8.9 per cent. That, apparently, is good because it is less than the 10.5 per cent which has been the average swing against the Tories this parliament. Don’t know about you, but my guess is that an 8.9 per cent swing will see Labour just scrape across the line.

The real Tory argument is this – if Ed Miliband cannot win this seat then he is not heading for a 150-seat majority next year. Or to put it another way – you’re only going to win by 50 seats, you’re a loser, na, na, na, na, na.

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The fun and games on the right – in Britain and in Europe – over the EU and the presidency shouldn’t blind us to the dangerous dividing line that David Cameron is trying to create. His objection – now oft-repeated – is to an ‘ever-closer union’. He tries to couch it as a common-sense, plain-speaking objection to creeping federalism, implying that these words in the Treaty of Rome are the cover for Europhiliac judges to enslave sturdy, independent Brits. That’s tripe, but it’s dangerous because it is an assault not on the European ‘project’ but on the European ideal itself.

First, and foremost, it is a misquotation. With other politicians you would say it was a deliberate and malicious recasting of the words in the Treaty, but you can never be sure with our prime minister. He is one of nature’s buskers – always fluent and plausible, but hasn’t always read the original texts. What the Treaty of Rome actually talks about is: ‘an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe’. That was not then, and is not now, an ignoble object. Distorting its meaning is disgraceful. As internationalists we should never be opposed to this objective.

Second, it takes a uniquely Little Englander view to believe that other European countries would ever subscribe to amending this wording. From Portugal to Poland this ‘ever-closer union’ has delivered democracy and prosperity. Do some countries have anti-establishment, anti-EU parties like us? Yes, Spain and France certainly do. But Italy and Germany don’t. There is no growing push for the illiberal Tory agenda. And that is precisely because from their current ideological position the Tories see Christian Democrats as indistinguishable from social democrats.

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John McTernan is former political secretary at 10 Downing Street and was director of communications for former prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard. He writes The Last Word column on Progress and tweets @johnmcternan

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Photo: fdecomite