Oops! Gordon Brown was given a (frankly very little bit of a) hard time by a traditionally Labour-voting woman in Rochdale this morning, and afterwards – when he thought his lapel microphone was off – he referred to her in private conversation with an aide in his car as "a bigoted woman".Oh dear! That won't go down well in the evening news! UPDATE: it hasn't; and the story has now (late afternoon) spread to CNN and Fox News in the USA....
He has "apologised profusely", (though trying to suggest it was the microphone-owning broadcaster who was at fault for releasing the recording) but apparently the woman won't now be voting Labour after all, as a result of this incident.
UPDATES: Thanks to a link being provided by the Quiet Man, here is that link to the video clip of the incident, and below is the (short) clip itself, complete with subtitles for the part in the car...
Here is the interview with that woman, Mrs Gillian Duffy, after the incident...
Next we can hear and see Brown on BBC radio, being put on the spot and really struggling and waffling...
Finally, here is Gordon Brown outside Mrs Duffy's house, later the same afternoon, after visiting her to apologise in person. It took some forty minutes, and now here he is, talking to the media, smiling unaccountably. How very "mortified" (to use his own word) that looks...
"For those of us that have known Gordon Brown for many years, what we have just seen is no huge surprise I have to say."
Got out on Sky
ReplyDeleteTypical of the leftist blindness to reality and a refusal to discuss it. Concerned about immigration = racist bigot, wondering why homosexual concerns trump your religious beliefs = homophobe, worried about radical Islam = Islamophobe. They have all the labels ready yet don't understand why people are moving to more extremist political parties.
Not as if it's rocket science is it?
This campaign is a real car crash for Labour. Absolutely shocking stuff from Brown but it gives you an indication of the socialist mindset, disagree and you're a bigot/racist/toff/baby eater, etc.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the voters will finally see through the charade after this.
Thanks for the link, Quiet Man. Yes, the story is popping up all over now, including in this afternoon's Daily Politics Health Debate. I'll add the Sky video clip here in a minute or so.
ReplyDeleteMr Keffer: I agree with the sentiments entirely, but doubt that it will have any greater impact on the mass of the voting public than any of his (and Labour's) other gaffes and poor actions/campaign activities have done to date, more's the pity.
I'd like to think this is damaging, but there's enough time before May 6th for some people to realise they wouldn't ever have voted Tory, no matter what Brown might do, because they've 'always voted Labour'.
ReplyDeleteIt might make some stay at home, and might make some vote BNP - but probably not the older voters, because they can remember Moseley or at least tales of Moseley and the thought scares them because of the parallels drawn by the media.
Hmm. Because elections are essentially won and lost in the marginal seats, this could have enough effect to lose Labour a few more seats than would otherwise have happened.
ReplyDeleteEven if they go to other parties, the balance still shifts away from Labour, which is a good thing in itself. Hopefully, though, there will be enough Conservative gains overall for a working majority.
I for one still expect that outcome.