Brown apologised for 'bigoted woman

[chemical-licker]

http://uk.news.yahoo...6d7372055540ebc

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has telephoned a woman for calling her "bigoted" while out on the campaign trail.

The PM's comments came as he was driven away from an event in Rochdale at which 65-year-old widow Gillian Duffy tackled him in front of the cameras about Britain's financial problems, taxes, student financing and immigration.

Unaware that his radio mic was still connected, Mr Brown told an aide that the encounter had been "a disaster" and said he should never have been made to speak with Mrs Duffy, adding: "She was just a bigoted woman."

The Premier's spokesman said: "Gordon has apologised to Mrs Duffy personally by phone. He does not think that she is bigoted. He was letting off steam in the car after a difficult conversation. But this is exactly the sort of conversation that is important in an election campaign and which he will continue to have with voters."

Chancellor Alistair Darling stressed that Mr Brown had apologised for the incident and said the Prime Minister knew "he shouldn't have said it".

He told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "He has apologised, that apology is profuse and I think he is well aware of the fact that he shouldn't have said this. I know the lady concerned is upset for understandable reasons, but the Prime Minister has apologised."

This man control the people, now i say let the people control the government and kick em out

If people actually believe that the government give two ****s about them please think again.

Edited April 28, 2010 by chemical-licker

[SlimJim22]

Here here! I had respect for Brown but sadly for this to happen is not exactly a glowing endorsement of the would be national leader. People won't vote for someone they don't trust and I fear this could be the end for Labour under Brown.

In sme ways it's better that the people know now than a year down the line but the overriding opinion of people seems to be, we don't want any of them. I hope this doesn't push people into a reactionary vote for Tories, which would be stupid considering that lack of meaningful policies. The Lib dems softly softly approach hasn't really been seen as a reasonable alternative to labour and so it looks like as many as a third of voters are going to tick the no candidate option. That would be awesome and I think sends the message that change on an unprecedented scale is required. Personally, I say bring back the monarchy as head of state and let Parliament administer the wills of the dragon queen. Ha ha ha

[itsnotoutthere]

So a member of the public asks some questions about the influx of eastern european immigrants into her area, and he calls her a bigot......hmmm guess this tells us all we need to know about Labours immigration policy. i.e. if you raise the topic of immigration you're automatically a bigot.

M U P P E T.

[schizoidwoman]

When this news broke I did wonder what she had said that caused Brown to think her bigoted but having read the transcript, her comments were hardly extreme.

I was incedibly surprised that a professional politican actually forgot he was wearing a microphone though, that was one thing the MPs I worked for were always savvy about.

Edited April 28, 2010 by schizoidwoman

[chemical-licker]

When this news broke I did wonder what she had said that caused Brown to think her bigoted but having read the transcript, her comments were hardly extreme.

I was incedibly surprised that a professional politican actually forgot he was wearing a microphone though, that was one thing the MPs I worked for were always savvy about.

Yeah but this is gordon brown an unelected prime minister. cant wait for 6th may

[hetrodoxly]

The guys a complete idiot, can you imagine the laughter at conservative HQ.

[itsnotoutthere]

"Carlsberg don't do election **** ups, but if they did............."

[SlimJim22]

"Carlsberg don't do election **** ups, but if they did............."

I like that... I've watched it back a few times for it's comic value. If you watch closely you can see him physically recoil when she says eastern european not immigartion. He knows there is jack all we can do about immigration from Europe. It is a joke that public services are enjoyed by europeans who send their earnings back home. I am a stauch labour supporter but I have a feeling Mrs Duffy and many others will be voting UKIP over this. They will be the ones to gain from this farce and that is a scary thought.

Muppet is right!

[keithisco]

The guys a complete idiot, can you imagine the laughter at conservative HQ.

Yes.... I can well imagine the hypocritical laughter at CONservative HQ..

[Cradle of Fish]

I just saw the footage and frankly it was painful to watch.

[schizoidwoman]

"Carlsberg don't do election **** ups, but if they did............."

That picture pretty much sums up Gordon Brown's time in office...

[itsnotoutthere]

That picture pretty much sums up Gordon Brown's time in office...

How about this one :-

or :-

Edited April 29, 2010 by itsnotoutthere

[chemical-licker]

It's now a case of lets forgive him as he is only human.

lets feel sorry for him vote:blink:

[keithisco]

It's now a case of lets forgive him as he is only human.

lets feel sorry for him vote:blink:

Not really.... but tell me that all party leaders and all parties are not guilty of exactly the same thing?

This is a rather silly distraction from the the Real Politik of an upcoming election - at least it lets the other parties breathe a sigh of relief because they are not being taken to account on their respective Policy Issues.

An interesting perspective:

LINK to below article

But Brown's behaviour was undeserving of the criticism he has received for another, broader reason: he did what you do everyday.

We all have two faces: our social face and our private face. Nobody loves everyone in their office, or everyone in their extended family. We show our smiling social face in the day, ask people we are utterly uninterested in about their children, and then we go home and complain about how boring they are to our partner over dinner. That is normal human behaviour, not least of all in Britain, which is still more private than most other countries.

If we despise the robotic version of politicians which have invaded our TV screens, the pre-programmed Cabinet-level automatons who emit soundbites and vacuity, then we must accept that politicians will behave like humans. They are not moral paradigms and we must accept that behaviour we would tolerate in a friend or colleague should be tolerated from them as well. This disproportionate reaction to their all-too-human failings will just provide us with another generation of political robots.

The attack that's currently underway won't fade quickly, and it will frame perception of his performance in Thursday's TV debate, which he desperately needs to win. But Brown isn't particularly out of order - you've done the same thing yourself. Glass houses and all that

. Edited April 29, 2010 by keithisco

[stevewinn]

isn't it marvellous watching the labour party self-destruct. for the Labour party to stand any chance of winning the election they should have got rid of Brown. - how many failed labour attempted coups has there been to remove him? each time Brown being saved by non-other than the prince of darkness himself.

after tonight's leaders debate the Lib dems are going to slump in the polls, Labour will stay where they are and the Tories will rocket to 38% or even the magical 40% which would give them the majority they need to form a government.

Gordon Brown though, what a tool.

Edited April 29, 2010 by stevewinn

[itsnotoutthere]

isn't it marvellous watching the labour party self-destruct. for the Labour party to stand any chance of winning the election they should have got rid of Brown. - how many failed labour attempted coups has there been to remove him? each time Brown being saved by non-other than the prince of darkness himself.

after tonight's leaders debate the Lib dems are going to slump in the polls, Labour will stay where they are and the Tories will rocket to 38% or even the magical 40% which would give them the majority they need to form a government.

Gordon Brown though, what a tool.

Steve, with regard to the people who have kept Gordon in power, can i draw your attention to this article written in the Spectator.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5912373/how-charlie-whelan-killed-new-labour.thtml

Seems Charlie Whelan of the UNITE union (& his thugs) have something to do with it.

I bought a copy & read the whole article.....very interesting.

[stevewinn]

Steve, with regard to the people who have kept Gordon in power, can i draw your attention to this article written in the Spectator.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5912373/how-charlie-whelan-killed-new-labour.thtml

Seems Charlie Whelan of the UNITE union (& his thugs) have something to do with it.

I bought a copy & read the whole article.....very interesting.

i'll have a read of it.

[supervike]

It's too bad we can't allow political leaders to be 'regular persons'. He gets to blow off steam too. I'm all for hanging politicians by the boots when they do something very wrong, but an off hand comment (that wasn't really even all that bad) seems to be making a mountian from a VERY tiny molehill.

[Corp]

isn't it marvellous watching the labour party self-destruct. for the Labour party to stand any chance of winning the election they should have got rid of Brown. - how many failed labour attempted coups has there been to remove him? each time Brown being saved by non-other than the prince of darkness himself.

after tonight's leaders debate the Lib dems are going to slump in the polls, Labour will stay where they are and the Tories will rocket to 38% or even the magical 40% which would give them the majority they need to form a government.

Gordon Brown though, what a tool.

Why do you think the Lib Dems will do poorly and the Tories will take off? Doesn't the debate need to happen first? After all from what little I've been hearing the Lib Dems are doing surprisingly well. Even saw one article that put forward the idea that if more people voted they'd win a crushing victory.

Anyway stupid mistake and depending on how things play out might be the moment he lost the election.

[itsnotoutthere]

It's too bad we can't allow political leaders to be 'regular persons'. He gets to blow off steam too. I'm all for hanging politicians by the boots when they do something very wrong, but an off hand comment (that wasn't really even all that bad) seems to be making a mountian from a VERY tiny molehill.

I disagree totally. This is the guy that make the decisions & laws that effect the nation & it's population. A member of the public (& a staunch labour supporter) asks him a few ligitmate questions about immigration & his response it to label her a bigot. If that is his opinion of one of his own supporters what does he care of the 71% of the population that didn't support labour at the last election.

[arglebargle]

I almost hope the Tories win, that way the world gets a good example of what happens when conservatives get power after a long long period of liberal government.

The best part is, they'll have brought it on themselves.

[itsnotoutthere]

I almost hope the Tories win, that way the world gets a good example of what happens when conservatives get power after a long long period of liberal government.

The best part is, they'll have brought it on themselves.

I actually don't think it matters much between labour & tories who gets in. There isn't a cigarette papers width between them.

The thing is that this labour government have done such a **** job with the economy (as always) that whoever gets in will have to do exactly the same thing, cut public services & tax everybody into the dirt, but both of them are too cowardly to say it.

p.s. In what sense is this labour government 'liberal'. perhaps liberal with taxpayers money?

Edited April 29, 2010 by itsnotoutthere

[keithisco]

I disagree totally. This is the guy that make the decisions & laws that effect the nation & it's population. A member of the public (& a staunch labour supporter) asks him a few ligitmate questions about immigration & his response it to label her a bigot. If that is his opinion of one of his own supporters what does he care of the 71% of the population that didn't support labour at the last election.

Such ignorance of the way Laws are brought into being simply astounds me!! GB doesnt "make the Laws" that is the prerogative of Parliament, NOT Government.

Anybody care to show where GB, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, did a less than praiseworthy job of managing the Economy? No takers? I am not surprised.

Edited April 29, 2010 by keithisco

[itsnotoutthere]

Such ignorance of the way Laws are brought into being simply astounds me!! GB doesnt "make the Laws" that is the prerogative of Parliament, NOT Government.

Anybody care to show where GB, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, did a less than praiseworthy job of managing the Economy? No takers? I am not surprised.

For starters :-

Selling Britain's gold reserves at a record low,

raiding pensions for up to £150bn,

making catastrophic tax credit errors,

racking up over £1 trillion in debt,

giving up our EU rebate.

jump in with your favorites everyone......

Edited April 29, 2010 by itsnotoutthere

[keithisco]

For starters :-

Selling Britain's gold reserves at a record low,

raiding pensions for up to £150bn,

making catastrophic tax credit errors,

racking up over £1 trillion in debt,

giving up our EU rebate.

jump in with your favorites everyone......

Care to qualify that diatribe with links?