Peter Steinbruck

Team captains
I've never been interested in football so only have the faintest memory of the 1966 World Cup, this was when England beat Germany in the final. I'm told the result was 4 - 2, and I'm told that means goals; for some the joy of that victory lasted years. And, following the EU summit meeting today it would seem that Gordon Brown can claim another victory over Germany. The headline in the Telegraph says - Gordon Brown claims victory as ambassador complains to Germany in economic policies row - full article HERE.

But is this so? It was on Wednesday of this week that Brown made his now famous remark about "saving the world" during PMQs. Here we are on Friday and the debate about whether this was a man speaking from the heart, or not, continues; Freudian slip or simple gaffe? But there is more to this. The very fact that two German politicians, Peter Steinbrück and Steffan Kampeter, have made critical remarks, on the record, about Nulabour economic policies can be taken, as Brown did, as personal criticism. Not so long ago, when Tony Blair was the PM, such a thing would have been unthinkable. But blundering Brown seems to have raised his game to a level beyond football rivalry into something else.