Prime Minister calls slightly racist woman a bigot

Gordon's in trouble

Quote :

Gordon Brown has said he is "mortified" after being caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman".

Gillian Duffy, 65, had challenged him on issues including immigration.

As he got into his car, he was still wearing a broadcast microphone and was heard to say "that was a disaster".

Was she a bigot? Here's the transcript. It could be this comment that is the reason he thought she was a bigot:

Quote :

Gillian Duffy: The three main things what I had drummed in when I was a child was education, health service and looking after people who are vulnerable. But there’s too many people now who aren’t vulnerable but they can claim, and people who are vulnerable can’t claim, can’t get it.

Gordon Brown: But they shouldn’t be doing that, there is no life on the dole for people any more. If you are unemployed you’ve got to go back to work. It’s six months...

Gillian Duffy: You can’t say anything about the immigrants because you’re saying that you’re... but all these eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?

Mentioning immigration was a complete non-sequitur. The language used is a little dubious. In all honesty, she sounds like a Daily Mail commenter. If I'd had a conversation with that woman, I'd probably have thought her a bigot, too.

Also, Gordon didn't say she was a bigot to her face. He mentioned it in the car, but his mic was on:

Quote :

Gordon Brown: That was a disaster...should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that?

Aide: I don’t know, I didn’t see her.

Gordon Brown: Sue’s I think. Just ridiculous.

Aide: Not sure that they’ll go with that one.

Gordon Brown: They will go with that one.

Aide: What did she say?

Mr Brown: Everything, she was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labour.

All in all, then, didn't really say much bad.

Of course this being Gordon Brown, everything has been blown out of proportion, and the media are behaving as if he shat on her grandchildren. He's even had to go round to her house and apologise. For thinking she's a bigot, when she's actually only a little bit racist.

I could hear Paul Rowen's sigh of relief from the next constituency over. He'd have to really screw up not to get re-elected now, even with Labour's best efforts to redraw the boundary to put more of their voters in the Rochdale constituency. (Having already shoved the heavily Lib Dem-leaning Castleton ward into Heywood and Middleton, which entirely coincidentally happens to be one of the safest Labour seats in the country, I might add.)

This story illustrates the wisdom of the phrase: "O Lord, make my words sweet and tender, for tomorrow I may have to eat them."

This is vaguely reminiscent of an episode of "Yes (Prime) Minister" (can't remember exactly) in which Humphrey makes unguarded comments thinking that his interview is over and the microphone is off. Moral: always treat a microphone as a live microphone unless you have personally verified otherwise.

Me? Laughing my socks off? Perish the thought...

Dixie wrote:

Moral: always treat a microphone as a live microphone unless you have personally verified otherwise.

Wasn't there a case a few years back where an American politician used the public restroom with her microphone still live? And made some uncomplimentary remarks about someone she really shouldn't have been dissing while she was at it?

Prime Minister calls a bigot a bigot and the midea blow it all out of proportion, Somath fails to care.

Good on ya gordon, I would have been much meaner.

OMG! The PM talks about people behind their back? News at 11!

But really, he should have checked his mic. You never know just who is ready to turn you into the papers.

szaleniec wrote:

I could hear Paul Rowen's sigh of relief from the next constituency over. He'd have to really screw up not to get re-elected now....

Which isn't entirely beyond the realm of possibility. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] British political campaigns are even more unpredictable than American ones.

Somath Cegem wrote:

Prime Minister calls a bigot a bigot and the midea blow it all out of proportion, Somath fails to care.

Good on ya gordon, I would have been much meaner.

This. She got upset that he would "use a word like that". What, did he call her a bitch or something? If you want to be a bigot, own up to it.

Somath Cegem wrote:

Prime Minister calls a bigot a bigot and the midea blow it all out of proportion, Somath fails to care.

Good on ya gordon, I would have been much meaner.

In all honesty, until he fell over himself to apologise I briefly considered voting Labour.

Then I remembered I live in a Lib Dem safe seat and I <3 my MP and the apology really pissed me off.

Call a bigot a bigot. She probably is one, and stupid to boot. They're "flocking" over from Eastern Europe, she said it herself

ETA: An Eastern European migrant's reaction. I forget that sometimes there's good stuff on LJ.

Who are 'they' and where in Eastern Europe are they 'flocking from'? Reminds me of the comments you hear from the Republicans in Arizona, who'd have you believe the entire population of Mexico is just waiting at the border for the guards to turn their back.

Rabid Badger wrote:

Who are 'they' and where in Eastern Europe are they 'flocking from'? Reminds me of the comments you hear from the Republicans in Arizona, who'd have you believe the entire population of Mexico is just waiting at the border for the guards to turn their back.

Damn right.

Unfortunately, our right wing press have been going "REEEE! CENSORSHIP! YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT IMMIGRATION PC GONE MAD COMING OVER HERE TAKING OUR JOBS BLOODY DIVERSITY NAZIS", and by apologising, the PM has legitimised this position. I wish he'd just said "Sorry, but she was a racist and I hate that."

Besides, it's all a little silly all this "censorship" and moaning about "freedom of speech". Surely Gordon's allowed to call a bigot a bigot if you're against censorship and freedom of speech?

ETA: If they go on about this in tonight's debate, I am going to be very very annoyed.

You know, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, there was all this noise coming from the UK, with people complaining that there will be an "influx" of immigrants now. If I recall correctly, about six months later, they were begging Romanians and Bulgarians to come to the UK because they didn't have enough people to work agriculture and some other stuff. (And I'm pretty sure people didn't go anyway, since nobody wants to work for pissy ingrates who insult them.)

So, you know what, Mrs. Duffy? You either learn to use farming tools and put food on your own fucking table or you STFU.

Agree with everyone else that all this BAWWWWing over the use of the word 'bigot' is completely dumb - if people want to complain about something in what Brown said, it should be the fact that he seemed so annoyed about talking to someone who hadn't been hand-picked to not make too much trouble