[Archived] Election

[BuckyRover]

Petard.

[berkshireblue]

But hang on that can't be right ...

Gordon Brown AND jim mk2 can't both be wrong surely ... can they??

I bet Brown's the only one who actually retracts his comments and apologises though!!

100% Correct on that one Tris

[broadsword]

Gordon Brown's sorry that he got caught, I think that's all he's sorry for.

Not his best moment.

[adopted scouser]

Petard.

I know !

[broadsword]

Petard.

No need for that.

[jim mk2]

Hoisted by your own wotsit, cloth head.

More snide remarks, but then I wouldn't have expected anything less.

[BuckyRover]

As Bryan alluded to, it was a typo directed at Jim/Brown.

[LeChuck]

It's the way the game's played! It's sad, but true, and I can't see it ever changing.

Very sad if that's the case. I really hate it, it reduces normally articulate and intelligent people like AS (who is one of my favourite contributors on here) to posting things like [paraphrase]"Ha ha, Brown called a woman a 'bigot', you lose!".[/paraphrase]

What he called a woman in private means nothing, it shouldn't be an issue. Again, I must stress that I'm not a Brown supporter!

[jim mk2]

Will Labour be damaged by this ? I don't think so. A week is a long time in politics and anything can happen between now and May 6.

John Prescott was worried his career was over after he punched a voter in 2001 but he referred to it in the title of his autobiography and jokes about it frequently.

And Brown might win a few plaudits for his honesty. The PM has said something about a woman in private that he was not willing to say to her in public. Many people would say that's understandable – we've all been polite to people we do not particularly like.

This election will be decided in the issues that matter - housing, the economy, jobs - not on some throwaway remark on the campaign trail.

[adopted scouser]

Very sad if that's the case. I really hate it, it reduces normally articulate and intelligent people like AS (who is one of my favourite contributors on here) to posting things like [paraphrase]"Ha ha, Brown called a woman a 'bigot', you lose!".[/paraphrase]

What he called a woman in private means nothing, it shouldn't be an issue. Again, I must stress that I'm not a Brown supporter!

Nothing wrong with a bit of banter pal ! This is probably the most interesting thing that's happened in this bloody election campaign so far.

They keep saying he's only human (human ? with that weird grin and all that gulping ?)

Hope these guys are around when the life form breaks out of that scottish skin

[JAL]

From what I've read the PM is correct. The woman is a bigot.

Are you going to contribute something worthwhile instead of your usual snide remarks ?

I'm staggered by your comments....an ordinary woman asking asking some simple questions, to be slated not only by her own party leader but also the prime minister of this country, what it shows is a complete lack of respect for the electorate especially this old lady.

The SCUM OF THE EARTH = New labour !

Looks like Gordon misunderstands a lot of things which is extremely unfortunate for us.

[philipl]

It is amazing we have got so far into the campaign until any major figure blundered.

The astonishing thing about Brown is the lack of any panache or presence of mind after he made the gaffe. That has the potential to be the killer more than the off the cuff remark which I have to say seem incredibly dimissive and tetchy in relation to what the "bigot" actually said.

No doubt a Brown aide is collecting his P45 for not routinely de-miking his boss before getting in the car (unless Sky were planting bugs).

Anyway, with a bit of luck, that's Rochdale in the Lib Dem gain list.

Ths s the Guardian on the gaffe. That is totally damning so I shudder to think what the Tory press is going to do with it.

[bellamy11]

Best write-up of the incident that I've seen thusfar:

Tories will scrap free TV licence for bigoted old hags, says Brown

[broadsword]

Very sad if that's the case. I really hate it, it reduces normally articulate and intelligent people like AS (who is one of my favourite contributors on here) to posting things like [paraphrase]"Ha ha, Brown called a woman a 'bigot', you lose!".[/paraphrase]

What he called a woman in private means nothing, it shouldn't be an issue. Again, I must stress that I'm not a Brown supporter!

No no no, I didn't mean that. I meant that's the game politicians have to play, to win public support. Rather than anyone else.

It's exposed Brown as a two-faced so-and-so with a short fuse. His personality is a turn-off with voters, so I would expect him to lose votes over this regardless of his competence as Prime Minister.

People feel they need to trust politicians, so this episode obviously hasn't helped.

[den]

Labour are finished and good riddance...!! ...once upon a time you could tell who was unemployed...

It was difficult to tell who was unemployed when the figure reached 3.5 million officially and millions more were shipped onto sickness benefit under the last Tory Government, when the advice to these people was to "get on your bike". Do you remember that?

[American]

As Tris said earlier, worse than the comment itself is showing that his handlers cherry picked voters that they thought would be helpful from a PR standpoint (oops!) to have a chat with Brown.

[1864roverite]

The way Labour are performing the electorate wont need to vote for the Tories, the red scumbags are hanging themselves.

Poor performance over 13 years is now reflecting very badly on them. A poor effort by that party in the previous 2 weeks campaigning has done nothing whatsoever to think they are worth another chance. Now we have more blunders from the biggest blunderer of all. I listened to his non performance on Jerry Vine today and he was shown for what he is, a nervous numpty headed buffoon who can not provide any straight answers.

He has signed his own death warrant and he will no longer be the main man, for this country or his party in 2 weeks time.

How anyone, considering his moments over the past 2 weeks, still thinks he is the man to take the country forward is a conundrum maybe only someone like clarke carlisle can unravel.

He is a loser, a liar and an utter disgrace.

[Paul]

I'm glad you've had prompt treatment, but you need to be careful not to extrapolate indiviual anecdotal evidence into a grand conclusion about the NHS.

Bryan I've tried to avoid saying this. My wife has 32 years front line experience with the NHS. She is a highly experienced, highly skilled individual who recently (6 months) moved in to a new role which is not front line. What I know about the NHS is both personal experience of the care provided and 32 years of listening to a dedicated professional. We are also very close friends with a very senior health care professional with great responsibility in the north-west (e.g. devising and implementing the Swine Flu response). Will this do for you?

[Paul]

As Tris said earlier, worse than the comment itself is showing that his handlers cherry picked voters that they thought would be helpful from a PR standpoint (oops!) to have a chat with Brown.

Oh come on, please, do you seriously think Brown is the first politician to stage manage his PR?

[sleepyjack]

[thenodrog]

Are you going to contribute something worthwhile instead of your usual snide remarks ?

The mother of all pot / kettle comparisons!

[broadsword]

Bryan I've tried to avoid saying this. My wife has 32 years front line experience with the NHS. She is a highly experienced, highly skilled individual who recently (6 months) moved in to a new role which is not front line. What I know about the NHS is both personal experience of the care provided and 32 years of listening to a dedicated professional. We are also very close friends with a very senior health care professional with great responsibility in the north-west (e.g. devising and implementing the Swine Flu response). Will this do for you?

There was absolutely no way for me to know that.

I'm sure you can appreciate the general point that one person's experience need not be representative of how patients are treated by the NHS as a whole (just ask patients in Basildon and Staffs), without resorting to catty remarks.

You obviously have a great deal more first-hand knowledge than me, I wasn't to know that at the time.

[thenodrog]

That's hardly a fair accusation. Being concerned about immigration, no matter what part of the country you come from, does not necessarily make you a bigot.

This only plays into the theory held by certain people that New Labour is a nest of PC-crazed elitists who view the working class with a certain pitying disdain.

Just like this board at times. The words bigot and racist are screamed far too frequently at anybody even mentioning immigration matters.

The most revealing insight here is that this is the Prime Minister of Britain shamefully talking about a little old lady and grandmother who has supported Labour since before he was born and is concerned enough about certain issues to discuss them with him face to face. To deny her that right and to call her a bigot is to deny freedom of speech.

If that is what he thinks of his supporters God only knows what he thinks of the other 80% of the population!

[thenodrog]

Brown on his way back to Rochdale to apologise in person. Going to be interesting to see her reaction when he turns up, the media are bound to cover it.

But thats the onerous bit! He's only doing that not cos of what he said but only cos he's been caught out. And Mandelson and Brown can spin all they want but they can not deny that.

[American]

Oh come on, please, do you seriously think Brown is the first politician to stage manage his PR?

But Labour is VERY big on enforcing the image that Cameron is the only one stage managing his PR and that it is one of his negative traits.

Can't have it both ways.