Gould's unmissable advice

A Philip Gould memo to Gordon Brown, written before he took over, has surfaced in the Daily Mirror.

It is compulsory reading.

Though it isn't the memo's intent, one of the clear messages is just how good... Lord Gould is. 

If it is true (and I think it is) that he isn't really in the Brown inner circle, then this is a big mistake.

The Mirror takes it as read that what Gould says, Brown is doing. But, even allowing for their desire to big up their scoop, this is overstating the importance of the memo. 

Why, then, do I regard it as compulsory reading? Because of its insights. Leave aside his argument for an early election (with which I concur), and instead look at this:

There is no doubt that the political landscape is changing: Crime, terror, immigration and so on are now the dominant issues.

Underpinning these concerns is a growing sense of the power of events beyond our control - globalised economies, international terror, community disintegration and so on.

The public are increasingly aware of the forces of change that politicians find hard to affect.

In turn people feel hard-working families get a raw deal while the undeserving get disproportionate benefits and unfair access to services and housing.

This leads to an agenda that is strikingly different from a decade ago.

However, public services and the economy are still important, about equal and just below security. But there has been a change in balance. People clearly feel insecure, uncertain and sometimes confused.

I was slightly surprised by this. I have always harboured doubts about David Cameron's talk of "a broken society", wondering if he wouldn't be better sticking with optimism on the economy and reform of public services.

But if Gould is right (and I put a great deal of faith in him) then maybe the "broken society" theme might have more play for the Tories than I thought.

That having been said, I think Cameron is still a long way away from linking his social responsibility ideas to the everyday concerns about security.

And, again if Gould is right, he will face the daunting prospect of defeating Brown on the PM's favoured turf - the test of leadership strength.