How is Brown doing?

Most commentators seem to think Gordon Brown has made good start and done particularly well to look solid in the face of the recent terror attacks. On Sky on Sunday Shami Chakrabarti had a bit of a dig at Blair when commending Brown for a lack of lip trembling but rather surprisingly said we all like to have a "father figure" at such times. Interestingly, Matthew Parris in the Times is wondering outloud whether recent events qualify as terror attacks.

On the pure political front, Martin Bright suggested on the day of the handover that Brown was looking to do things the old fashioned way, announcing changes to policies and personnel formally, without resorting to leaks and spin. I'm not so sure. Andrew Grice in the Independent today covers some of the same ground, observing that:

The Cabinet is holding longer meetings; Mr Brown lets his ministers share the limelight and decisions are (mostly) being announced in Parliament rather than spun to the media as he tweaks Mr Blair's policies.

Interestingly, Grice's angle:

Brown's strategy is to expose Cameron's failings - without taking his gloves off

is very similar to what Martin Bright said.