Monday, April 13, 2009

Sorry Seems to be Gordon's Hardest Word

I just spoke to Nadine, who has received her so-called letter of apology from Gordon Brown. Except of course, it is nothing of the sort. She says he expresses his regret that politics has been damaged, and, well, that's about it.

Unbelievable.

No sign of a letter for me yet...

78 comments:

Will Dean said...

Stop trying to build your part Iain, it's unbecoming.

This is a great story, but it's just not about you.

Bob Piper said...

Will Dean... you selfish little person you. Of course the story is ALL about Iain. All these other people only had walk on parts in Iain's world...

Oldrightie said...

We all have a part in this. Everybody who has kept Guido's blog alive. How's this for irony. Draper's trolls so boosted Guidos numbers he could afford to purchase a great deal of muck left around by Brown's elephants. Delicious!

Trend Shed said...

Will / Bob

This whole thing started when Draper and McBride tried to smear Iain as a racist.

http://www.order-order.com/2009/04/so-gordon-about-this-letter/

AD627 said...

Bob, could I suggest you crawl back under the stone you appeared from under? You've been a stalwart supporter of the current bunch of crooks for donkeys' years.

If you wish to defend their conduct, feel free to do so and expect the same response that Kevin Maguire received. Otherwise, demonstrate some simple courtesy- not to mention common sense - and shut up.

Weygand said...

Just heard her on BBC News. Very impressive.

I loved it when the interviewer panicked re mention of Watson.

But as she made clear, the letter is just another piece of spin and thus adds insult to injury.

Brown has not got the humanity to see that he's just making things worse.

This could really be the beginning of the end for him.

Unknown said...

Will Dean & Bob Piper, when i first read this I thought the same thing, LOL!

Iain is SUCH an attention whore.

The Grim Reaper said...

Well Iain, you may not have received your letter from the Prime Mentalist yet, but I've managed to obtain a copy.

Dear Iain Dale,
It has come to my attention that in February, my former spin doctor Damian McBride sent out a series of e-mails to Derek Draper ordering him to use his website to smear you as a racist. I would like to assure you that I, and this New Labour government, am going to make sure you get the real help now that you need, hence why Mr McBride is no longer working for the government.

However, it might be worth considering that this problem actually has nothing whatsoever to do with me. The technical team at Downing Street inform me that our e-mails are most likely sent through American servers. By implications, this means that this problem began in America, hence why I do not need to apologise for anything.

It is not my fault. I am getting on with the job of getting us out of this recession, which also began in America, and of helping out hard-working families by giving them real help now. The very help that do-nothing Tories like you would deny to people who are facing difficult times.

Thank you for reading this letter, I hope you are satisfied with its contents.

Yours sincerely,
Gordon Brown.

P.S. None of this has anything whatsoever to do with me. Absolutely not. No way. Never in a million years.

Roger Thornhill said...

I did not expect Brown to apologise and he has not.

The letter is a sordid attempt to "draw a line" while not admitting fault nor, more importantly, taking responsibility for his having such people around him.

A fish rots from the head.


BTW I hold no candle for Nadine (she infuriated me re abortion), but I would not want this to have happened to her or anyone else.

Catosays said...

Piper, you are a tedious oaf. I do hope your majority is huge...it'll need to be.

The Grim Reaper said...

Cato said "Piper, you are a tedious oaf."

I think that statement is offensive to real oafs everywhere. Piper is much worse than that.

Anonymous said...

Put this letter, the Emails and the Boris - Beijing story together and you have a Prime Minister that is so debased, sullied, even evil, that it defies belief that any MP, even as low as Steven Pound, could support him.

Fidothedog said...

Gordon needs to have his tears wiped away, told that if he says sorry all the nasty people will leave him alone to create the socialist utopia.

He has of course saved the World.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
It Will Come to Me said...

Dear Iain,

Sorry, but stuff happens.

Warmest regards,

Gord.

Anonymous said...

Brown will never say Sorry - the reasons are clear below as are the links. Team Gordo had a strategy to build up Sarah Brown to aid Gordon in an election campaign -

Gordon Brown has denied involvement in the manufacture of smear stories or even knowledge of it.

You can easily doubt this is really true as he works directly with the people involved and indeed even spun in the Sun newspaper, a picture of the workplace in the last year of him getting on with the job!

Here is why you might think Brown was involved.

If you think about it the press has had a lot of articles building up Sarah Brown recently, starting to Twitter in time for the next election, the hiring of clothes, Sarah Brown being part of the Brown campaign at the next election and much talk about her taking stands at summits in reference to foods she declined in a blatant pitch for certain types of voters.

What “better” for such a campaign than to smear the wives of your opponents! Brown is in this up to his neck! He is the mastermind as his wife is being wheeled out as an electoral prop; meanwhile the substitute team and their partners/wives are being smeared by a pack of lies.

Four recent daily mail stories about Sarah Brown the last one identifies how Sarah will be an asset in a future campaign using Twitter and actively campaigning for Labour!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1158483/Sarah-Brown-Michelle-Obama-hold-First-Wives-Summit.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169248/Sarah-Brown-refuses-eat-veal-foie-gras-Nato-summit-banquet.html?ITO=1490

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1166589/Sarah-Brown-introduces-cream-British-female-talent-Naomi-Campbell-Michelle-girls-night-in.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168630/PMs-wife-Sarah-Downing-Tweet-joins-Twitter-craze.html

The more you look at this the more convinced you could be that Gordon Brown wanted the McBride e-mail strategy. Why else would Brown position his wife into such a position of electoral importance as has been reportedly recently in the press?

Whilst an electronic trail may not go directly to Brown a print off of an e-mail may well have passed Gordon’s eye. You can just see him marking the paper copy with a big fat Black felt tip pen and smiling as he looks at it, indeed in such a small office it is hard to believe that Brown could not have been chipping in and joking about the smears with ideas as he is a *strategic genius*!!!!

Yes you could think Brown wanted this smear strategy as part of “use Sarah Brown” to promote Gordon positively whilst engage in an unfounded dirty smear campaign against Conservative opponents.

The other interesting factor is the amount of articles appearing in the daily Mail; maybe the No.10 team have a good contact to place stories within the Mail group?

Jimmy said...

Just so we're clear, is the e-mail about you one which you've seen or one which your "trusted source" says exists?

DeeDee99 said...

Perhaps now Draper is going to have such a lot of spare time, he could give Gordon a bit of psychological counselling.

"Saying Sorry, Gordon, isn't a sign of failure or weakness. When you have behaved badly (and sometimes, even when you don't think you have) apologising is the first step towards forgiveness. It shows that you understand that your actions have caused pain to another individual and that, although you cannot change what has happened, you will do your utmost not to repeat the behaviour. Saying Sorry is a sign of understandinh and takes strength of character: it isn't a sign of weakness."

Of course, someone who can't or won't say Sorry, doesn't accept that they have done anything wrong and therefore has no intention of making the necessary changes to their behaviour. In other words, Gordon is a leopard who cannot change his spots.

Unknown said...

That's a fair point Jimmy. Out of all the smear e-mails that have emerged, I haven't heard of a single one that speaks about smearing Iain Dale.

Where is this evidence that you were smeared Iain? If you don't have it, how do you know it exists?

Drapers attack on you seemed to be an attempt to generate traffic rather than smear you. In fact, that's something you said yourself:

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-thetwitter-is-draper-up-to.html

Draper emailed me this afternoon suggesting that I should write a guest post on his site, and then he should be allowed to write a guest post on here. As they say in the internet world, LMAO*. It is clear that this whole spat is designed to increase traffic to his site. I'm not playing.

Silent Hunter said...

Oh Look it's the well known defender of Free Speech, LOL Bob Piper, come to tell us all what to think.

What's the matter BOB! Not enough traffic on your little effort? :o)

Now I wonder just how many postal votes you've been signing for yourself then in the up an coming council elections - that's the "Labour Way" isn't it mate.

Oh and would you like me to publish the filthy little private e-mail you sent me once - to my private e-mail address which wasn't supposed to get used for that kind of thing? I saved it for a rainy day when you are next defending your seat.

I know that you're not quite the happy chappy you like the public to think you are eh? matey boy.

Lola said...

I really don't think that Brown does 'government'. I think all he does is politics. Power politics. It's all about getting into and keeping in power. Everything he does, every policy, every speech, every debate (sorry, I know he doesn't do honest debate), every interview is made on the basis of political advantage. Consequently his office will be organised along the same lines. He will have positioned the likes of that little shit McBride and his henchmen at the very core of his office. Hence, even if he was not immediately privy to the emails and the setting up of the redrag blog shell and all the rest of it, it was all part of the operation of his office, his style.

He is in this up to fat neck.

And Mr Dale, you do deserve an apology for the racist slurs. You won't get one of course but then neither will anyone else.

And lastly, Brown and his crew really do have to go very soon don't they? Every minute they occupy No.10 - an historic address that deserves far far better - is another minute wasted in sorting out the catastrophic mess Brown has made of things.

Unknown said...

All this episode brings into question Gordon's mental state -

Is he capable of making an apology?

Why does he grin insanely when he is criticized?

We need to know the the answers to these questions, maybe Auntie BBC could help?

The Grim Reaper said...

DeeDee99 said "Perhaps now Draper is going to have such a lot of spare time, he could give Gordon a bit of psychological counselling."

With one or two modifications, I think this is what Draper would really tell him: "Saying sorry, Gordon, isn't a sign of failure or weakness. When you have behaved badly (and sometimes, even when you don't think you have) apologising is the first step towards forgiveness... Alternatively, if nothing else works, you can just put out fake apologies that nobody will seriously believe. It's what I've done, anyway."

HarveyProcter said...

Oh no! Cue further TV appearences by Iain "the world's greatest blogger Dale" on how he hasn't had a letter from Brown yet.Do let us know when you are going to be on again Iain.

Anonymous said...

Gosh and to think its lefties who are always saying that its Americans who don't do irony.

Lefties have well and truly lost their sense of humour.
Whom the Gods destroy first they make sour faced.

Meanwhile back to the usual Tory tittle tattle so beloved of Stephen Pound ....
I feel sorry for the recipients if they got hand written letters - they will be barely legible. If I were Nadine Dorris I would send hers to a handwriting expert.

Having looked at some stock footage of the leader (especially in the company of his own Boreman figure) I conclude that he wears a corset or a rather odd flack jacket. (I) rather suspect it will not prevent him being shortly stabbed in the back.
Oh and I do feel entirely morally justified in making this claim bearing in mind the Lefts endless analysis of Bush and alleged microphone 'bumps' in his attire when doing Q&As.

Simon Gardner said...

Who is Bob Piper?

Conand said...
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Eddie 180 said...

Of course Brown regrets that Politics has been damaged. he regrets that his type of politics has been damaged!

He has lost a key 'advisor' / fixer - he regrets that, and the damage that it might do to his politics.

Gareth said...

Is this the same regret Brown expressed when David Cameron was asking about Baby P's death one PMQs?

Brown could only see the Tory infront of him then* and can only see the Tories his acolytes have smeared now.

Perhaps if he had got on with running the country rather than scoring political points against his opposite number and his own colleagues, we wouldn't be in such a mess.

* As opposed to the leader of HM Government's official opposition doing his job of trying to hold the Government to account.

Old Holborn said...

I have a slightly different take on the letter to Gus.

As I said yesterday, you owe Guido a case of Margaux. You haven't had this much work since Mark Oaten ran out of bog paper.

Conand said...

@Peter @ 11:01

We should ask Celebridee Psychobabbler Derek 'Dolly' Draper.

Conand said...

@ Bog Piper and The Anti-Dales

Brown certainly should apologise to Iain. Brown should apologise to EVERYBODY in the country.

wv: costs (exactly!)

Old Holborn said...

"I have also written personally to all those who were subject to these unsubstantiated claims."


Not lies, not slurs, not madeupfilthandscum...

"unsubstantiated claims"

Oh dear...I wondered why this story has dominated the news for three days. Now I know. He BELIEVES Damien McBride spoke the truth but can't substantiate it. He ACTUALLY BELIEVES IT.

I Squiggle said...

Watching Sky paper review: Lose the tie Iain, lose the tie..

Old Holborn said...

Dereks new bok is catalogued by Amazon

Anonymous said...

Donal Blaney calls for the death of TED KENNEDY, US SENATOR.

Do we want him as part of our movement?

http://ddtaylor88.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Is there some sort of medical means of doing a "smear test" on Brown, and when is Draper going to stop digging his hole?

Unknown said...

A political crisis always seems to go up a notch when it is given a name.

I notice Nadine Dorries is calling it "Smear Gate"

Very apt!

Igirisu-Jin said...

This is politics, it involves an amount of tactics. Ian needs to be getting involved, appearing on the news and writing blogs, thats what he does. The more he can milk this, the better he is able to do his job and achieve his goals. That is how politics works. Brown should say sorry to all the intended victims of his government's smear plan, whether it is an MP or Ian or anyone else.

I knew right away that Brown would not have gone anywhere near apologising in his damage controll letters, and there is no way in hell those receiving them should accept them. Brown may be able to cling on from this disaster, but there should be some more scalps to collect. Ian you should make sure to use each publicity chance you get to make it clear that Brown smear campaigns are not politics as usual and that this is a Labour thing. Using public money for party purposes and dirty tricks is how Gordon Brown runs his government. He is the worst PM since the term was invented.

Anonymous said...

REBEL!
REBEL!
REBEL!

http://rebelglasgow.blogspot.com

Let's give FLASH BROWN a very WARM & TOASTY welcome back to Scotland this Thursday when the UK Cabinet pays Glasgow a wee visit.

Rebel Glasgow!

Pass it on.

Gordon Brown said...

Dear Iain,

I'm really sorry about the allegations by that fattie Damian and creating so many hits for your blog, sorry, ruining your Bank Holiday weekend.

I know that you so hate to be the centre of attention.

As a sign of my repentance, I have decided to introduce a car scrap refund scheme for Audis purchased at the Tunbridge Wells dealership. Additionally, I enclose a £100 Gift Voucher for a new Duchamp tie and a choccie dog bisuit for Gio.

I hope that you can accept my apology?

Lots of love,

Gordon X

PS Even though Damian is 10 years younger than you, he looks about 10 years older.

Unknown said...

Nadine is quite a Fox. We need to see more of her.

Igirisu-Jin said...

The last report on this issue I saw on Sky News at about 10 past midnight wasn't too bad. It didn't go into specifics about who knew what, or anything to do with Charlie Whelan's Red Rag involvement, but it certainly didn't paint a very good picture of Gordon Brown. When are the next polls out?

Martin S said...

This is a great story, but it's just not about you... Actually, Will, Bob, I think that you will find that - as Jonathan has pointed out, it is very much about Iain, as he was one of the targets of the smear scheme.

And as for you, Bob Piper, you are sounding a little bit too close to defending the actions of Draper/McBride.

Oh. You were only joking. Just like Dolly and Mr Mac. Yes. Right, sure enough...

Silent Hunter said...

Who is BOB Piper?

Good question.

You know when you walk along a road and you step in something nasty?

Does that answer your question. :o)

The Grim Reaper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I may have missed it, but the news said that Gordon Brown had written to the Conservative politicians involved - so does this mean he still hasn't apologised for the smear against George Osbourne's wife?

If not, I hope she sues.

The Grim Reaper said...

Let's try this again, ballsed up the code first time round...

Martin said "Nadine is quite a Fox. We need to see more of her."If you think Nadine's attractive, wait until you see her daughter. See Tory Bear's place:
http://www.torybear.com/2009/04/totty-watch.html

Hubba hubba!

Unknown said...

This is strange. Peter Hain has got at you on Aneurin Glyndwr. Madness.

DiscoveredJoys said...

Don't hold your breath Iain.

If I were the recipient of a Gordon Brown notpology I think I would return it without any additional comment. Some things are beneath contempt.

Allegedly, Mafia Dons don't do apologies, even when their chief enforcer has been 'hit'.

wv: claus

Prodicus said...

Martin Day -

You've made your point. Many, many times.

I have seen your comment about Mrs Brown on every bloody blog I have visited, on the day I claimed the world record for the number of blogs visited by an individual in a single day.

Give it a rest, will you?

Simon Gardner said...

“REBEL! REBEL!”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa6bI_95G9I

Simon Gardner said...

Silent Hunter said... “Who is BOB Piper? Good question. You know when you walk along a road and you step in something nasty? Does that answer your question. :o)”Nah. I’ve always known what that is. That’s Fraser Kemp.

James Dowden said...

Typical lying Gorgon Brown putting the cart before the horse: it's because politics is damaged that this happened; it isn't that this damaged politics.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
John Moorcraft said...

I find the response of Alan Johnson to all this somewhat confusing…

The argument he seems to have been told to peddle is that Gordon Brown has no need to apologise for this because he is not personally responsible for it. This is a really strange line of reasoning for me. Gordon Brown is surely responsible for the people who work in his office in much the same way that Richard Branson is responsible for employees of Virgin Airways. If Virgin Airways loose my luggage (which they frequently do), then I might get a nice letter from a manager saying sorry, even though he had nothing to do with it. If it is a particularly bad experience, then some drone might write a letter and stamp it with Beardy Branson’s signature.

I think the same applies here. I don’t think Gordon Brown knew anything about these emails. However, they were sent by employees who he has direct responsibility for. They were part of Gordon Brown Inc if you will. If he comes out and says sorry for the fact these emails were sent by Gordon Brown Inc, it would do him the world of good. By refusing to say sorry, it only heightens the suspicion that he might have knew about them in some way. I put it to that bloke from the Mirror (whatever his name is) that this is the real thing real people are talking about down the pubs…

Anonymous said...

This is very simple. Brown is a bully. We've all known bullies - we've all (in one way or another) had the experience of being bullied. Iain is experiencing it right now.

Serious bullies, like Brown, are very disturbed people. They erect massive shields - using good old cognitive dissonance - to protect themselves from the reality of what they are doing. (e.g. "I'm not a bully, I'm just imposing some much needed discipline.")

Brown/Stalin really has convinced himself that there's nothing wrong with any of this. He believes, deep down that it's for the good if those who threaten his hold on power are neutralised. The son of the manse really does see himself as our saviour.

Scary, isn't it?

Dual Citizen said...

Bob Piper,

We are all owed an apology. Well all you UK residents who funded McBride's smear activities through your taxes.

Patrick said...

Iain,

You are indeed owed an apology - by one or two unhappy commenters on this blog!

Yes the apology you refer to would be from Draper not Brown. I don't think the likes of Bob Piper get that.

You clearly now have much more influence as a blogger than you ever would as an MP. Keep up the good work.

Mike Hobday said...
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Mike Hobday said...

He's not the only one is he? How long till you apologise for alleging that Tom Watson "either tacitly or overtly encouraged McBride to send more" emails?

Like the attack on you - but unlike the other disgraceful McBride slurs, this one was published - and is still there on your blog.

javelin said...

Martin day - that's a good point. Brown will have been told he is not popular with women. Simply because women recognize how far along the AUTISTIC spectrum he is [ not wishing to offend autistic kids and under stand the autistic spectrum is from Cambridge and has a negative effect on research - but women do tend to use it as a reference point ]. Autism also ties in with his lack of ability to apologize - which is basically looking somebody in thehe eye and contacting with them at a social level.

javelin said...

Order-order is down

Anonymous said...

I must be very naive, but I can't understand why Gordon Brown hasn't resigned, let alone apologised.

He hasn't even had the bottle to be interviewed in person but has just pushed forward his henchmen, who obviously say it's not his fault.

We have had resignations from heads of banks and large public companies, from heads of NHS trusts, government departments and also heads of large councils and their departments.

These people do not know everyone working under them, they don't know every action that their employees are taking, but they resigned. When "baby P" dies there was rightly an outcry and the head of childrens services had to resign. She didn't control all the social workers directly, but as head of the department the buck stopped with her.

Gordon Brown is head of the government and is in charge of the number 10"machine". That being the case, the buck stops with him and he should resign.

Dick the Prick said...

Did Phil Spector produce 'sorry seems to be the hardest word'?

repossessed house investor said...

Has anyone apart from me notice that Our Beloved leader is becoming to look more and more like Ronny Kray as every day passes.

Martin S said...

And can anyone -say 20 years ago- have imagined the Daily Telegraph becoming such a partisan and fawning supporter of the Labour government? And such a repressive one at that?

'I'm Backing Labour' says Telegraph

strapworld said...
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strapworld said...
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Windsor Tripehound said...

Yesterday Alan Johnson was on the radio defending Brown’s refusal to apologise (why?) with the lame excuse that if he were to apologise for every little incident it would “devalue the worth of apologies”. Good grief!

It would be a first if Brown were to apologise for anything.

Hacked Off said...

He's incapable of sarry "Sorry" which is why this Smeargate Scandal will run and run.

Tom Watson is surely toast!

The Penguin

Oscar Miller said...

Attacks on Tom Watson implicate Gordon. Here's what one cabinet minister said about Watson (and his mate Ian Austin) at the time of the plot to oust Blair in September 2006:

"These are the type of guys that don't get out of bed in the morning and break wind without first checking with Gordon whether it's okay".

Unsworth said...

Ah, the lovely Mr Piper manifests himself.

What does he think of this action by one of Brown's closest aides? What does he think is reasonable and honourable behaviour by MPs? What does etc etc

Nope, his sole contribution here is to proffer personal insult. Standard NuLab tactics - Man not Ball. Despicable - but entirely predictable.

What he should understand is that the public have, finally, rumbled him and his colleagues. The public now see them for what they are - devious, manipulative, amoral, unprincipled scum.

Mr. Musicology said...

To be fair, the murky world of political blogging has been under question for many years.

And to be fair, the entire genre is tory invented. For years, guys like Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale have used the unregulated nature of the internet, from their offshore hideouts, to slander, smear, and spread rumour.

They claim to be independent. I really doubt Ian Dale and Guido Fawkes are any more independent than the recently proposed Red Rag, in which the aim was to COUNTER the murky things that go on in tory political blogging in the first place.

It was only last year that Mr. Fawke’s (who’s e-mail address has recently been linked to a Tory HQ server) was claiming John Prescott had had numerous affairs in the last decade. Speculation, he felt no need to apologise for.

If you live by the word, mr Dale, you die by the sword.

Mr Cameron and Viscount Osborne can hardly complain that their private lives (STDs, blacking up, cross dressing) is now being gossiped about in public.

And you can hardly criticise it. You basically invented the genre of poking and prodding rival MPs, from your offshore haven. Probably on the payroll of Cameron himself

Roger Thornhill said...

Javelin @07:45


Brown may be autistic, but I don't think this explains his behaviour on this occasion. To me this is the act of a Sociopath.

Simon Gardner said...

I have been looking forward to the Dorries apology to all women for her appalling behaviour during the Abortion Debate. And hell will freeze over.

Iain Sharpe said...

Perhaps Gordon Brown is copying the example set by the Conservatives and David Cameron over the criminal conviction of their parliamentary candidate Ian Oakley for harassment and criminal damage against political opponents.

This was:

1. Refuse to comment on the grounds that Oakley had resigned and was nothing to do with them.

2. Decline to hold any kind of inquiry or investigation into the Oakley affair.

3. Maintain a stony silence for several months without even a word of sympathy for Oakley's victims.

4. Several months after Oakley's conviction Cameron expresses 'regret', but does not directly apologise to the victims, and only then after he was put on the spot over the matter so he had little alternative but to comment.

I hold no brief for McBride, Draper etc. or the way the government have handled this. But after the Conservative party's behaviour over Oakley, they are in no position to moralise.

Unknown said...

I think that Gordon Brown may genuinely have large psychological barriers in the way of him saying sorry.

There's a surprisingly large academic body of work on the psychology of apologising. Perhaps less surprisingly, there is almost nothing on the psychology of politicians apologising.

One article I read recently though is quite perceptive in identifying the structural reasons why it is difficult for political leaders to apologise. It's by a former lobbyist turned adjunct professor of law:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1322130