'Feeling empathy for Gordon' blog discussion

Matari

For me it makes Gordon human and shows that he dislikes bigots which can only be good! For those who have already made an informed decision about who they are going to vote for this will be no more than a storm in a teacup. For those who are dithering and dislike racism this will sway them towards Labour and for those who are racist it will sway them away from Labour. Storm in a teacup.

DON79

He is only human and as such makes mistakes, yes he probably shouldn't have said it but Martin is right - everyone mutters their own little opinion under their breath after a difficult conversation or scene. its not worth condemning him over athough it will undoubtedly damage the campaign.

But I don't believe that any political party will make things any better - its all promises... promises purely to get into office. Then the things that affect our daily life and would really make things better for the ordinary person are never fulfilled. Labour, Conservative, Lib Dems etc etc - all the same in then end.

I don't vote, never have and never will because I don't believe it makes any difference who is in government - its all one big mess and no single political party will wave a magic wand and make it all better.

Comyface

Feel thoroughly sorry for Gordon. Well said Martin.

(I'm not a Labour voter, btw)

skhwoody

Matari wrote: »

For me it makes Gordon human and shows that he dislikes bigots which can only be good! For those who have already made an informed decision about who they are going to vote for this will be no more than a storm in a teacup. For those who are dithering and dislike racism this will sway them towards Labour and for those who are racist it will sway them away from Labour. Storm in a teacup.

That is the most ridiculous comment i have ever heard, what does this have to do with racism.... if you don't vote labour you are racist....

check ot the word itself...

A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.

This has been the problem with labour for many years, you question immigration or foreign criminals and you are labelled racist, you question their policies you are misguided and uninformed... if nothing else you have swayed me away from them.

bertiebots

I am sad to say I disagree with martin on this one!
As I see it Mr Brown is the very definition of bigotry ....
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bigot

All the woman was doing was asking him about her concerns. He should have a bit more respect for someone who has served her community for 30+ years than to dismiss her off hand, because he didnt like being questioned.

I am not saying everyone should like everyone...this is the real world . But as leader of this country he should be capable of listening to peoples opinion , and respect the fact that not everyone is going to agree with him and visa versa.

podge1140

As a staunch labour hater, it gave me a good laugh to see & hear silly Brown making a fool of himself. Does what you say in private change what you said, to say it, you must believe it. it just shows the lack of morals the man has, he's supposed to be a man of the people, he can't even talk to ordinary people, if you disagree with him you are 'BIGOTED' the mans a fool.

Poke13

Very good points made, it is hard to remember that all of the politicians may be like this but some may be a bit more careful in these situations! :eek:

RussJK

I think you covered most of the points well. I've not seen anyone saying that they'd change their votes over it, only people who already hate labour are crowing about it. Reasonable people don't see it as a big deal, and see it as a media 'stitchup'. It'll probably backfire if they push the story too much.

Personally I found the lady to be a painful woman; I would have been far less tactful in my private asides about her. I admit that I laughed when I heard what Gordon Brown said about her. She was one of those annoyingly inflexible people who don't let you answer their questions, and she did have it as a given that immigration is a bad thing. It's more complicated than that, as Gordon Brown was trying to explain.

Still, it mustn't feel too nice for her to have heard those words being played back to her, and I feel a bit sorry for her. I think its cruel that Sky continued to play the audio, clearly wanted to cause trouble. They were flocking on her like vultures, and grabbing her (technically assault, but would never stick) to keep her talking. Who knows how planned it was.

RussJK

skhwoody wrote: »

This has been the problem with labour for many years, you question immigration or foreign criminals and you are labelled racist, you question their policies you are misguided and uninformed... if nothing else you have swayed me away from them.

So you are intolerant of Gordon Brown then? ;p

Somerset

Strongly disagree with Martin's blog.

''Much of the debate is about “is she bigoted?”. I haven’t watched enough of the interview to know whether she was or not, but I don’t see it being the point. He wasn’t making a policy statement about this, it was a private aside.''
So that's ok. So if your work colleagues, mates, people on here, whatever, call you a racist or a bigot or a pedophile, it's fine as long as a)you're not and b)it's a casual off-the-cuff comment and not really meant. Your 'mate' was just 'letting off steam' and never intended it to get back to you ??

''where he was having a go at his spin doctors for putting him in that position – a knee jerk, unthought about reaction.''
Then maybe he should have called his spin doctor a useless c*ck and sacked her. Not taken out his frustration on someone else.

''Had he made a considered public statement calling her a bigot then the debate is relevant. ''
Agreed - but no politician, including GB, will make any public statement that could cost votes.
Say X and mean Y
Say X and think Y
Say X and intend to do Y

So we know that all we get are public statements that bear little relation to the truth. Why do you think practically everyone thinks all politicians are liar's??

''Yet do we really want our politicians to be so anal that every private word uttered must be perfection? I prefer humans to robots.''
Of course not. People blow off steam. The alternative obvious view, is that when people are letting rip, they are actually being more honest about what they really think.

Back to the first point - if you call someone a prat privately, while in a temper, the chances are, deep down, you do think they're a prat.