George Osborne has just given what I think is probably his best ever interview. It concentrated on the budget, but at the end of the interview Andrew Marr asked him about Gordon Brown's apology. "Gordon Brown hasn't written to my wife," he told Marr. That's not what we were told at the beginning of the week. We were told by Number Ten that the PM had written peronal letters to those mentioned in the smear emails. Why didn't the Shadow Chancellor's wife receive such a letter?
UPDATE 12.18: In the original of this post I wrote that George said that he hadn't had a letter either. I clearly misheard, as several readers have pointed out. But the fact remains that his wife did not receive an apology from Gordon Brown, and should have.
33 comments:
I thought Osborne said that there was no apology in the letters, even if he issued a general apology half a week too late.
I agree , he came over as very serious and honest. He is very dignified about the smears agaisnst him
If anyone deserved an apology it is Mrs Osborne. It shows just what a vile and unrepenting government we have
A very confident George Osborne. Excellent.
Gordon hasn't written to George!!!!!! The incompetence of Brown knows no bounds.
This will just whip up the story even further!
Noted. Funny Marr didn't pick on it, though
I thought it was an awful interview. He refused to mention any specifics saying he basically did not now what the situation would be in the future - that's the idea of government, George!
Also, was quite shocked at his statement that the poor should share the same burden as the rich - is that the definition of compassionate conservatism?
Has George Osborne apologized for his hilarious joke about Gordon Brown being autistic yet?
David, remind us, did Osborne plan to put that in an anonymous Conservative-run website about Brown's wife? More interestingly, why do you think the actual character of the Prime Minister should be out of bounds in political debate? Actually, given the nature of your Prime Minister, I quite understand.
I thought Carol Thatcher had done it again when she announced the 'colour supplement' with a picture of Obama on the cover...
I think he said his wife didn't receive a letter, and I only remember hearing that Gordon would be writing to the MPs who were subject to smears.
The Prime Mentalist, autistic? The nutter with the stutter, autistic?
I think Osborne should apologise to autistics everywhere for this dreadful calumny.
Iain, Are you sure. I thought he said he had not apologised to his wife.
Otherwise I agree, a 1st class interview.
The autistic joke was funny and was just that - a joke. It wasn't a deliberate attempt to smear him as part of a political campaign.
RJL
One cannot be a greater idiot! The opposition parties have not seen the books and given the dishonesty of Brown govt do not know what the mess the govt has created since over a decade. Some Labour-spinning brain dead people want to know the details of the cure before the patient is examined and tests are conducted. The saga of many a companies with directors ( one is Enron and the recent one is Satyam Enterprises a large IT company in India which has interests in major Western countries including Britain, whose CEO hid his company's financial status even from his directors-who are clever men, by presenting cooked up data which even the auditors PWHC of India could not spot. The man went to jail which is the place for Brown and Blair)say how clever CEOs can bury the bad news of companies.
Shame on those Labour supporters even after Brown's bungling for over a decade want the opposition to present the budget without knowing any details from the treasury books.
D. Boothroyd. No not before El Gordo apologised for the economy mess he has created and dragging the politics into the sewer where he inhabits. FYI, read postings from a class mate of Brown at Edinburgh U who periodically responds in the Scotsman blog, giving details of how El Gordo was an arch smearer even in his university days. There was at least an ounce of decency left in Nixon. El Gordo is not fit to be
a human being.
@RJL
Perhaps because he is not in government yet and has no idea above the mess this government has got us in to. Just how large are the Enron-esque off balance sheet liabilities they have taken on?
On the letters...perhaps Royal Mail lost them ;)
He didn't say that, though Iain.
He said that their letters did not contain an apology.
I realise Osborne's not great on details, proven by his performance today and inability to give any specifics - he knows full well that the Tory vote isn't improving while Labour's is decreasing, so they may as well hold tight and wait for Labour to lose rather than have to win it for themselves.
again can you give the time that it is and the iplayer link when it comes up please, Thank you.
In the mean time anyone any ideas what Guido is doing http://www.order-order.com/2009/04/off-for-a-picnic/ ? is this another political bomb-shell or him just getting everyone excited?
Oh yes, David, the occasion when the journalist joked that Osborne might be "faintly autistic" and Osborne referred to Brown in his response...
Attempting to equate this to what McBride etc. were up to fails on so many levels:
1) it wasn't Osborne's joke
2) his reply was overt
3) it didn't involve civil servants
4) Brown's spokesman said he wasn't offended
5) Osborne didn't claim to have apologised whilst not having done so
Clearly, rebuttal is alive and well but employing a better class of poodle Mr Boothroyd
Not to fear Mr Osborne I suspect Mr Brown himself was in as somewhat weakened mental state last week and just forgot about apologizing to you.
I think you should not insult Mary Ann Sieghart, who was not joking or smearing George Osborne; whereas Osborne's remark was unprovoked and highly offensive. What's even more offensive is that it fitted into a long-term Tory effort of making this sort of insinuation against Gordon Brown: MPs and Tory journalists had been doing the same.
A smear is a smear, and Gordon Brown has been far more smeared than Tories and Tory bloggers have been willing to admit. I have not heard any Conservative denounce Paul Staines for his obnoxious blog. Several maintain links to it, which in effect endorses it. Perhaps if they did all include the nonexistent photograph 'sitting on a rocking horse in a nappy' then the public would know what they are really like.
Videos now up on the AM website
Click here
Osborne on 'culture of smears't
Budget will be 'day of reckoning'
David, I think you'll find it was the former Prime Minister who initiated the Brown is bonkers meme - initially the "psychologically flawed" comment was attributed to Campbell but I believe that Blair was subsequently fingered by Lance Price
I think Osborne came across as he usually does all air and no substance.
This high moral ground taken by the Tories is farcical , they are as bad ,this nonsense is not restricted to anyone party or persons allied to the parties.
I agree that Guido's blog has been the worst I have seen for personal smears, the comments are often disgusting and very schoolboy like That takes away from the messages in the blogs. Reasoned and informed debate would be a better way,rather than bad language and jibes.
Labour always like to refer anything negative back to Lady Thatcher's premiership. And of course we all remember that labour never said anythin personal or offensive about her.
Iain, you forgot to note that there was no representative of a particular party on Marr's show this week. I'm sure this was a simple oversight and you will correct in due course with a ranting blogpost. This awful BBC bias has to be exposed, eh!
"Anonymous" 12:55
If you did not think the BBC is biased towards the Left you would not support it.
"Osborne's remark was..highly offensive."
Do you really believe that? You must have noticed that mild autism is quite common in males. Brown clearly does exhibit some symptoms of mild autism. Are we supposed to censor that observation. Why?
Give him it Georgie.
RJL, Labour supporters et al.
I am a pensioner not in the category of Sir Goodwin, and El Gordo slammed me with doubling the income tax, some compassionate person. After his PhD in scottish Labour Party history ( some labourites spin this as doctorate in economics), El Gordo was sometime a sociology lecturer in Glasgow College of Technology ( now Glasgow Caledonian U, a post-92 university)and those who were there at that time tell stories about El Gordo's behaviour. A blogger in Scotsman who was with El Gordo in Edinburgh U as a student says smearing is a second nature to El Gordo and says further about the future prime minister smears against the opponents who stood against him for student union leadership. Nixon developed his smearing skill when he was a governor of California but for El Gordo, it comes ready made with "smearing gene". Get rid of this filth spewer. One does not need a PhD to spew out the despicable act of spewing out filth.
Am I right in assuming that those responsible fore actually publishing the rumours have apologised to no-one?
RJL/VALLEYS MAM - You are both Derek Draper and I claim my tenner.
It was a great week to be Andrew Marr's show, coming as it did straight after the F1 GP. I would never have known Osborne was on otherwise. I am sure that he will have impressed a lot of folk that would not have normally watched. I only watched as I was intrigued about what the next chancellor had to say.
Impressive interview.
slurp.
Post a Comment