Image Hattip: Tory Rascal
It had to happen. Put Gordon Brown with ordinary members of the public and it was bound to end in tears. He has just been caught on mic calling a woman he had just had an encounter with a "bigoted woman". Her crime was to question him about core Labour party policies. She had always voted Labour but was deeply unhappy. In the clip I heard, she said nothing which could be said to be 'bigoted'. Interestingly, Brown's first instinct was to cast blame to whoever had got him to talk to her. He called it "ridiculous".
It will be interesting to see what fallout there is for this. Sky and the BBC News Channel have gone into overdrive on it, and I am sure the tape of the comments will be repeated hundreds of times over the next twenty four hours.
So, what should Brown do now? Immediately apologise, or take her head on and explain why he made such insulting comments.
We may find out soon as he is now live in Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine, and is being very bad tempered.
Mrs Duffy should go into hiding. She will now have the full force of the Labour lie machine descend on her.
UPDATE: Sky are quoting Mrs Duffy as saying: "If that's what he said, I'm very upset, I'm very annoyed...I thought he was understanding but he wasn't, was he?"
60 comments:
He may despise and hate we voters, but she was a Labour supporter and voter! And he reacts like this to a few simple questions? I wonder how he would react to a non-Labour supporter or voter who questioned him? Leopards and spots comes to mind.
Defining moment of campaign. He's toast.
She comes across as ultra-ordinary and genuinely hurt.. and has just held court on both news channels for 10 minutes to explain.
Unless she's unmasked by the spinners as a BNP activist in the next 20 minutes he's had it.
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/vote_2010/gordon+brown+calls+labour+voted+ampaposbigotedampapos/3628887
So, because he was in his car, we should ignore it, he should be able to have his private views..
He should have stuck to his original itinerary. Unfortunately Thomas the Tank Engine had to postpone the lunchtime photocall.
This just has to go ballistic ... the perfect example of his arrogance - a voter who holds some different views to his own and he levels the 'bigot' charge - he really is socially challenged.
Expect the Ministry of Truth to descend on Rochdale like a rash.
Within 24 hours we'll find out she's a benefit cheat, a homophobe and voted for Jedward.
His excuse on Jeremy Vine appears to have been that she brought up the question of immigration at all (alongside asking him about the national debt, tuition fees and a whole slew of policy) - he called it "annoying". Utterly remarkable, and I feel very sorry for Mrs Duffy, who is presumably going to be followed by a posse with microphones and cameras for the rest of the week.
If he reacts like this to someone who is a perfect example of a Labour core voter, imagine how he'd have reacted to being buttonholed by someone who was genuinely opposed to him as Cameron was yesterday! I hope that Labour keep rolling him out to meet the public as much as possible until next Thursday.
As I disagree with Brown I am now officially a BIGOT. I will have to find a party that accepts my non Labour views.As a Scot I am ashamed to have him as a fellow countryman
professional politicians should stay well clear of the working classes! She said nothing 'bigoted' at all in my opinion. Unbelievable.
He has made a real mistake and will rightly come across badly, but I dont buy your general premise that 'Put Gordon Brown with ordinary members of the public and it was bound to end in tears.'
Anyone I have met always says that he's much better in person than on telly. Maybe that was precisely the problem with today: the cameras were rolling.
He's a fool. This should run....
Many commenters have been slagging off McMental for several years. Final proof if any more was needed at what a nasty piece of work he really is.
The woman did come out with the classic "how come I can't claim when all these immigrants can live on benefits" line.
I guess that's the bit Gordon thought was bigoted, and to be honest I did start to cringe when she started. I know it's a common enough view, but it does come across as a "coming over here, stealing our jobs" rant.
I just caught some of this on the TV... Excellent! Like something from 'The Thick of It'...
I can see the spin doctors going into meltdown trying to repair the damage: "He didn't say 'bigoted' he said 'big-hearted'..."
How come his comments got transmitted from within his car?
When Mrs Rochester meets Mrs Rochdale
Gordon Brown, losing one vote at a time
He also lied to Mrs Duffy when he said taht he had plans to half the country's DEBT in four years. Dishonest or incompetent?
Actually, I thought it was Gordon's leaden responses which were funnier. Here is he, in front of one of his core tribe, he should be relaxed and easy going. But, oh no, Gordon enters full-on tractor production mode.
I too fail to see where she was bigoted. In fact, she reminds me of my dear old 92-year Granny who was deeply tribal Glasgow working class Labour until she hit her 90th birthday. Even she can't abide Broon and his gang of useless incompetents.
Thatcher had her "We are a grandmother" moment, Gordon has just had some kind of defining grandmother moment as well.
Incidentally, Future History of England, I should agree with you on "private views" but when a government traduces our liberties to the extent that even private views appear to be under threat, I would say that Gordon just got what he bleedin' well deserved.
And you said this campaign was dull Iain?
It's over for him. He is toast. I have been waiting for this for months. If half the stories about him were true, it had to come out sooner or later. He is recorded and banged to rights.
This is the moment of the election. From now on there is no possibility of a recovery. Even the BBC have put it on their front page. When that happens, you know its over.
Hallelujah. The Beast has been named.
As a Labour supporter this is the last thing either the party or Gordon Brown wanted eight days before the election.
He's let himself down and he knows it.
I would caution any Tory or Lib Dem including iain not to overeact on this issue. It would be interesting to hear both Clegg and Cameron off camera.
I think this is your new quote of the day.
Iain, where are your trusty Labour commenters when we really need them? They're usually all over this blog like a rash. I really want to hear one of them explain why GB is right/the media are biassed/the Tories would be worse/ etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but insulting one of your core voters while you're on mic isn't smart, is it?
Arrogant b******d.
(Gordon Brown - just in case anyone thought I was thinking of someone else).
I look forward to it being debated on Thursday evening.
Not the brightest thing to do would be an understatement. At least shows his true character to people.
I did have to chuckle at the picture of him with his head in his hands whilst on Radio 2. He knows he's truly screwed it up.
Excellent I say!
When they write the history of this campaign, this will be labelled "The Moment Brown Lost the Election".
Poor Mrs. Duffy - the Mandelson, Whelan, Campbell, McBride, Draper cabal will be in overdrive searching out incidents in her past so as to discredit her. There will be no end to their accusations.
This issue will no doubt dominate the Election for the next 24 hours. Perhaps some reasoned and rational examination of all the Party's immigration policy will now take place without people being branded as bigotted and racist.
All I've heard from Nick Clegg in the last week is "fairer this, fairer that".
Lets look at the LibDem's "fair immigration policy".
Latest figures in the Times suggest there are at present about a million illegal immigrants in Britain.
The LibDem Manifesto proposes an ill thought out immigration policy with an amnesty for these one million illegal immigrants. If and when these people became ‘legal’, would not dependents of theirs living overseas automatically qualify to join them in Britain, under present British and European Law? That original one million could very well double or treble, who knows the final figure? The additional influx of these dependents, would increase the already unbearable pressures on housing, the NHS, Schools and the social services caused by the present Governments policy.
Can Nick Clegg tell me what's fair about people coming to this country illegally, and working for ten years without paying tax. They would then be allowed to stay, bring their dependents in to join them, which would effectively exempt them from paying income tax in the future. They would also be entitled to all the benefits which the rest of us have paid for, benefits, to which they would not have contributed a single penny ?
Experience in other countries has shown that the implementation of such an amnesty would undoubtedly encourage another million illegal immigrants to descend on Britain in the expectation of a future, similar amnesty
What would Cameron or Clegg have said off-camera after a meeting with Mrs Duffy?
I doubt they would have thought much of her socially conservative views either. They probably would have called her a bigot too.
It was interesting that the mike became inaudible just as Brown was warming up. I wonder what another 30 seconds would have revealed.
But the moment we'd all have treasured would have been the one when he found out about the recording. I suspect it was a genuine 'Downfall' moment.
With Brown's antisocial tendencies is it any wonder that Mandelson keeps him away from ordinary people?
The latest rumour, that Labour activists divest themselves of party identity to appear "normal",rings true.
Perhaps the public deserve an early warning system if he is to be allowed out on his own.
He could be a danger to health - and who would pay for it?
A disaster for Brown, and made so much worse by the fake apology and the head-in-hands footage.
But it's hardly the game changer that some people are claiming. We already knew about Brown's low level of personal skills and his bad temper.
The real winners are the news media, who've got an entertaining story they can mkae the most of over the newxt twenty four hours.
And over the next twenty five years, the clips will be played again and again to illustrate any other story about embarrassing moments.
browns appology (ha!0 was worse than the offence. "'if' I said anything that might bla bla bla ...."
Shocking performance.
But on the subject in question ....
Just listen to him.
First we had the undiluted Scottish accent, we see how he tries to hide his origins in public.
Then what he said - you could tell the anger - 'who put her in front of me'. There laid bare is the control freakery, Its not simply that however wrongly he did not like the woman, but that he was angry to have met he in the first place. And he was set to tear off a strip from the person responsible.
Finally we of course have the 'bigot' claim. Its preposterous to regard this woman as a bigot. Instead of worrying at the state of the country which has brought this poor woman to this pretty pass, he can only dredge up some totally implausible accusation that she is wrong.
This is the real Brown - the man who twists reality when it shows him up to be wrong. There are no problems in Rochdale - only bigots.
>Vladimir
I agree totally. It's all the Tories fault. Probably Margaret Thatcher's. We've abolished boom and bust.
Yadda yadda
Lord Mortgage just said on Sky: "You know sometimes politicians say things they don't mean."
No sh*t Peter.
Par for the course, It is what happens if you try and operate a personality cult as Brown has been trying to do for years. Anyone who seemingly does not worship the ground you walk upon you react badly.
Mr Brown was caught saying: "That was a disaster.
His aide asked: "What did she say?"
Mr Brown replied: "Well, just...You should never have put me with that woman.
"Whose idea was that?"
The aide responded: "I don't know, I didn't see her. It was Sue I think..."
Mr Brown went on: "It's just ridiculous."
The aide said: "They're pictures, I'm not sure they'll go with that one."
"They'll go with it," Mr Brown said.
"What did she say," his aide asked.
Mr Brown replied: "Oh, everything, she's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour."
From the Sky web-site.
Far from wanting to meet the "plebs", Brown only wants the safe sycophants in front of him "You should never have put me with that woman".
As Brown said, she used to vote Labour, but any more, after that display of contempt.
A personality... what? Cult? Is the spelling correct, there?
He calls her 'bigot' - but could NuLabs secret policy of mass immigration into England be due to the fact most of them were not 'English'?
Of course - everyone is 'bigotted' except the very people who deliberately flooded England with immigrants, because they themselves were anti-English.
Brown Blair Reid Darling Mandelson Straw Campbell Millibands.
Ever feel you've been 'had'?
follow Bigoted Woman on Twitter
http://twitter.com/bigotedwoman
Labour's new campaign song is, apparently, Jilted John 'Gordon is a moron...'.
Wallenstein: "The woman did come out with the classic "how come I can't claim when all these immigrants can live on benefits" line."
"I guess that's the bit Gordon thought was bigoted, and to be honest I did start to cringe when she started. I know it's a common enough view, but it does come across as a "coming over here, stealing our jobs" rant"
No Wallestein, that's a lie. Labour supporters cannot get Brown out of this by lying about Mrs Duffy - the entire exchange is on camera, remember?
The exchange went thus:
Mrs Duffy: "I was brought up to believe in three things: Education, Health Service, and looking after the vulnerable. But there’s too many people who aren't vulnerable that can claim"
Brown: “They can't do that. There is no life on the dole [Broon clearly doesn’t realise that some benefit families are on to their third generation of welfare dependency].”
Mrs Duffy: “You can’t say anything about immigration. All these Easter Europeans - where are they coming from.”
Brown: “There are a million Britons who are working in Europe.”
And that was it. So you can see, she DIDN‘T say “how come I can't claim when all these immigrants can live on benefits". She didn’t link immigrants to welfare at all. She merely voiced the concern that millions of voters feel about the mass immigration that has taken place under Labour.
I imagine that Labour’s smear machine will go into overdrive now trying to attack Mrs Duffy. Doubtless its army of Twitter Twats will be repeating the same lie that you just told.
But it won’t work because, as I said, it’s all on camera. Finally Brown has been caught on film as the backbiting, nasty, bad-tempered and dismissive creep that journalists, authors and even his own colleagues have been telling us for years is the true face of Gordon Brown.
Good.
It's over for Brown. Plain and simple.
Wallenstein: "The woman did come out with the classic "how come I can't claim when all these immigrants can live on benefits" line."
"I guess that's the bit Gordon thought was bigoted, and to be honest I did start to cringe when she started. I know it's a common enough view, but it does come across as a "coming over here, stealing our jobs" rant"
No Wallenstein, that's a complete lie. Labour supporters cannot get Brown out of this by lying about Mrs Duffy - the entire exchange is on camera, remember?
The exchange went thus:
Mrs Duffy: "I was brought up to believe in three things: Education, Health Service, and looking after the vulnerable. But there’s too many people who aren't vulnerable that can claim"
Brown: “They can't do that. There is no life on the dole [Brown clearly doesn’t realise that some benefit families are on to their third generation of welfare dependency].”
Mrs Duffy: “You can’t say anything about immigrants. All these Eastern Europeans - where are they coming from?”
Brown: “There are a million Britons who are working in Europe.”
And that was it. So you can see, she DIDN‘T say “how come I can't claim when all these immigrants can live on benefits". She didn’t link immigrants to welfare at all. She merely voiced the concern that millions of voters feel about the mass immigration that has taken place under Labour.
I imagine that Labour’s smear machine will go into overdrive now trying to attack Mrs Duffy. Doubtless its army of Twitter Twats will be repeating the same lie that you just told.
But it won’t work because, as I said, it’s all on camera. Finally Brown has been caught on film as the nasty, backbiting, bad-tempered and dismissive creep that journalists, authors and even his own colleagues have been telling us for years is the true face of the man.
Good.
Its ironic isn't it...
For the first 2 weeks of the campaign people have criticised Gordon Brown for moving from one Labour supporters front room to another, having conversations with Labour supporters over a cup of tea.
In view of the poor Labour showing in the polls - being nearly 10 points behind, they decided that Brown should go out and meet ordinary people.
The result is that he insulted a lifelong Labour supporter, and is now sitting in her front room, over a cup of tea, and trying to regain her support!
Brown should announce that he is standing back and will go immediately after the election. Let what's going to happen happen. the Labour campaign is dead.
If he doesn't key Ministers should resign.
This is so embarrassing for us as a nation never mind Labour as a party
Just watching him outside the woman's house and he's making me physically shake with anger and revulsion. The shit-eating grin as he left the house is nauseating. His weasle words are repulsive, the 6th of May can't come quick enough... we can only hope that the country boots him out.
Leaving aside this wonderful car-crash of an event, I want to find out WHEN some bloody journalist with balls will start to take Brown at his word and question him on the RIDICULOUS proposition that Labour will HALVE to deficit (NOT the DEBT, mark you) in four years.
This is the economics of DFS: the first year is free, followed by interest-free repayments!
Just think about that. Apart from doing bugger-all this year, he has three years to reduce borrowing (the deficit) to half. Now, assuming he means half of the current deficit (£169B), that means getting it down to £85B by 2014.
Of course, the deficit will rise as he does nothing for the first year so he will not be cutting £85B over three years, he will have to find cuts of around £100B+ over that period.
That means cuts, year on year - but not really 2010 - of around £35B. He has no chance!
Nor for that matter, does anyone elese, least of all the LimpDems. But Brown is really, truly in denial. It will take a massive hike in inflation to help him out. Perhaps he knows that but just keeps quiet about it.
So, in summary, the next PM has got to find, each year, a saving equivalent to the DEBT that the last Tory government handed over in 1997. Oh wonderful days they seem to us now!!
Brilliant. I agree with you on the remedy, too.
My take on Bigotgate here
Just another example of the arrogance of the political class. Anyone who dares to question a member of the politicracy is unwashed, uneducated and bigoted.
Is this McBroon's Marie Antoinette moment (let them eat cake)?
Or, should I say, 'let them eat pies, McBroons Pies'.
Past his sell by date methinks.
Darling said it's down to Gordon in no small part that the country is coming out of recession.
I think he should add that it was down to Gordon in no small part that the country went into recession.
But maybe that would be 'bigoted'.
What a pathetic incompetent bunch of losers hold the reins of power in the UK.
I suppose it's one way of putting the Peppa Pig affair behind them...
Step back a moment and put all of this together. What Brown is saying is that his policy of choice is to have unrestrained immigration but he does not want to make this public because his "supporters" do not agree. Brown is a slippery liar, as a marxist he has been trained to deceive and the remarkable fact is that his "supporters" have not yet worked out that his agenda is not their agenda. Labour believes in unrestrained immigration it has been their deliberate policy for thirteen years. But Brown is not proud of his policy, he hides it away from the people who vote for him.
What worries me about this episode is that none of the pundits are pointing out that the real problem is that Labour's real policies are not policies that their supporters like.
MORIARTY: IT'S LORD MANGLETRUTH!
not Lord Mortgage, much more descritive of the man?
Send me an email and I'll let you have a poster.
The thing I found interesting about this was the other voice in the exchange with Mrs Duffy. It sounded like Mr Woollas. The same voice seemed to be the one in the car responding to Brown's overheard comments. Yet that voice seemed not to suggest that Brown actually did well with the initial exchange.
Why not ?
Follow the Woollas...
"I would caution any Tory or Lib Dem including iain not to overeact on this issue."
And Brown's (over)reaction? Blind panic. Rushes to her house, emerges after 45 minutes saying he had 'misunderstood' what she had said. Oh yeah? Well she sure as hell didn't 'misunderstand' his condemnation of her when she heard the tapes - nor did anyone else.
This Prime Minister and First Lord of The Treasury is a revolting scumbag. No dignity, no integrity, and no bleeding sense.
I have had a wee fantasy for several months. I always thought it was one of those unattainable dreams like finding out that Halle Berry was my no.1 fan. Did this fantasy take a step towards becoming a reality today? Will Gordon Brown have a 'Portillo moment'?
He should resign. He has exposed himself to the world as a lying, duplicitous idiot.
Isn't this precisely what we do with elderly relatives who go on about "all those darkies and poofs". We smile politely because other than being shocking bigots they're quite nice really and we take into account their age and the generation they are from. Can't see what the fuss is about. Should he have called her a bigot to her face? That would have been rude.
@madbreak
Got it. Asking about immigration is commensurate with calling people "darkies and poofs". Gotcha. Thanks.
The incident exposes how out of touch Labour is with ordinary voters. It exposes Brown as a hypocrite. It shows him to be a bully, confirming what Andrew Lansley's book claimed. It demonstrates his short-termsim - why go back and apologise? The damage was done; any apology would be insincere and embarrassing. He never thought, just reacted. It shows his disdain for ordinary people, especially the old. It exemplifies his arrogance. He made it all about him rather than about the issues. Did you notice in the original coversation, he did not listen to her but just repeated pat phrases in response to key-word triggers. Then patronisingly asked about her grandchildren as if that were all old women were good for.
He utterly disgusts me.
@moriarty
yes it is if your question refers to the ethnicity or race of a particular group of immigrants. I do believe she made special reference to "Eastern Europeans". But you're quite right - they aren't "darkies or poofs" so I was clearly out of order.
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