Brown's second Commons debut
By Tony Grew - 1st November 2010
It must have been one of the best-attended adjournment debates ever.
More than 100 MPs packed into the Commons at around 10pm tonight to hear Gordon Brown speak in the chamber for the first time since the election.
There had been predictions he would be booed, jeered and barracked by Tory MPs.
In the event he was listened to in silence - he began well by paying tribute to the armed forces and those who have lost their lives for their country.
Brown, on the third bench from the front, with his hands clasped behind his back, spoke for five minutes on "options for maintenance of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers", his first speech from the backbenches since 1985.
He was flanked by new Labour MPs Margaret Curran and Alison McGovern.
Thomas Docherty (Lab, Dunfermline and West Fife) opened the debate, and he did well in making his voice heard above the hubbub of all those MPs.
In the press gallery, the sketch writers from the Daily Mail, The Times and The Indepdendent were on hand - a most unusual sight at 10pm.
Education minister Michael Gove and Eric Pickles had popped in to watch Gordon speak.
The Labour frontbench was packed - there was Ed Balls, Jim Murphy, Sadiq Khan and other shadow cabinet members, again an unusual sight at this time of night.
Some had predicted Gordon would be given a tough ride - in reality he spoke well, and without interruption. Nice to see mature, grown-up politics in action.
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