What does Gordon Brown stand for? "Brownism" is most accurately defined as the serious effort to pursue left-wing aims by right-wing means. There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his commitment to improving the life chances of poorer people, both in the UK and in third world countries. He very obviously wants to improve the health service, the education system, and arrangements for international trade. The problem about Gordon Brown, however, lies in the policies he intends to pursue to achieve those aims. His record in government so far shows that he has abandoned the analysis and critique of the market economy which were central to his political opinions earlier on in his life. The shift in his own views has paralleled, and in fact helped to create, the same shift amongst many other people in the Labour Party.

But that widespread and now deeply-rooted shift ignores the reasons why Labour developed its past policies and analyses, now lazily dismissed as all "Old Labour". It is true that Labour thinking was not sufficiently updated in the light of new issues, such as the environment once was, and that its party "brand" came to be seen as out-of-date. However those Labour theorists, writers, and politicians of earlier generations who analysed the dynamics of the market and found it wanting had something important to say, and it remains important today. Green economics is a new development, but perhaps the best advice we could give to Gordon Brown is to get back to the writings of RH Tawney, GDH Cole, and others, and see why in the Labour tradition there has been such a long-standing suspicion of the workings of the market, and why that suspicion remains justified today.

BROWN AGENDA'S - SO FAR

There is no sign that the environment, green economics or sustainable development are high up Gordon Brown's agenda. In just the short time since he became Prime Minister, a lot of evidence has accumulated.

RESHUFFLE

(1) Despite the so-called "big tent", no-one has been brought into government who has made their name principally through work on sustainability. There is a senior policeman, several businessmen, a surgeon, an admiral, a couple of LibDem peers - but no-one who has made it into Brown's tent through green issues.

(2) Despite the exceptionally large number of MPs either brought into government for the first time, or promoted, none of them has played a prominent role in Parliament on issues about sustainability (with the exception of the promotion for David Miliband of course).

(3) Despite the amount of departmental reorganisation going on, no departments have been restructured with the aim of making it easier to pursue policies for sustainability. The one instance where that was under consideration, bringing energy policy out of DTI and into Defra, in the event didn't happen. Energy remains with what is left of the DTI (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform). The Financial Times (June 29) reported: "The prime minister was persuaded by intense business lobbying to drop plans to move energy in with environment".

POLICY PROGRAMME

(4) Brown's "Draft Legislative Programme", setting out what he intends to put in the Queen's Speech in November, shows that he wants to press ahead fast with the reforms to the planning system outlined in the recent Planning White Paper. He wants to establish an Infrastructure Planning Commission to press ahead with new nuclear power stations, incinerators, expansion of port and airport capacity, major roads, etc., reducing the power of local authorities and local citizens. This would be achieved through a series of national planning statements, which would be subject to consultation and scrutiny, but not to democratic decision-making (except possibly within the Cabinet).

(5) Brown's proposals for constitutional reform - though generally welcome - fail to address the key issue of short-termism in politics, which all the time militates against the taking of pro-sustainability decisions, which would take into account the interests of future generations (and more than 3 or 4 years into the future in the lives of current generations).

(6) The Treasury's "Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration" (published July 17) reflects Brown's thinking on the future of regionalism and local government in England. A rather revealing phrase in the Foreword refers to devolving decision-making as being about - not democracy, not crafting solutions which respond to the specifics of specific places - but: "local authorities and regional agencies have been empowered to support the Government's objectives". The document sets out ways in which this "empowerment" is to be extended further (see separate item below).

(7) There is no sign of any reversal or modification by comparison with the Blair era in policy areas such as the halt in progress on environmental taxation, plans to build new nuclear power stations, airport expansion, or the trend for private motoring to be increasingly cheap relative to public transport.