Wednesday 28 April 2010

UN-believable...

That was meant to be the title of a completely different post which will probably follow shortly, but in the meantime I just had to direct your attention to Wife in the North's blog where she has today highlighted the shocking absence of women at the forefront of the forthcoming UK general election, and in particular Gordon Brown's reaction to being confronted by a disillusioned female member of the Labour party faithful.

I'm sure that if you live in the UK you will have had the footage you can view via Wife in The North rammed down your throat, but for those who don't and who might have missed it, I heartily recommend that you click through to it and that - crucially - you watch it all the way to the end.

Apparently, having the nerve to express a dissenting point of view to the incumbent prime-minister's face in this spin-managed election makes you a bigot.

Gordon Brown is, of course, entitled to his opinion. As are the rest of us, on what exactly we think of someone in his position who forgets to tun off his mic.

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post. I read WITN, but I didn't bother to watch the clip through to the end - until I read your post. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know - someone banging on about "those Eastern Europeans" and questioning how they're all getting in, does strike me as something of a biggotted comment. Brown should have been a bit more media savvy with the mike still attached, but there was no arguing with that woman and her views.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The whole discourse between those two made me want to stab my computer screen with a fork. Gordon is so far removed from reality its untrue. He didn't answer any of her questions or queries at all, except with cr*p about how labour is all about helping people and generally came across as patronising and uninterested.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even Gordon, tho he shouldn't broadcast to everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KM and Livi, thankyou.

    Iota, yes; you need to hear the whole conversation really to get a proper understanding of what happened rather than just the soundbite at the end, I think.

    EPM, as a Londoner who believes that the city would be on it's knees without the influx of immigrants (and let's be honest, throughout history that's how the UK has developed, by attracting successive waves of immigrants) and as an economic migrant myself at present of course I don't agree with her. My post was more about the fact that GB's handling of this - whatever your views on immigration to the UK - is bound to have an impact on how you view this election.

    Eclipse - it was car-crash tv, wasn't it. Normally I would just switch off but I knew the clincher was at the end so forced myself to watch through it...

    Modern, they certainly are. And it was less his opinion than the fact that he had been smarming up to the woman in question 30 seconds earlier, asking her about the names of her grandchildren, saying he expected them to be going to university in a few years time etc. I mean, we all KNOW that politicians do it - it's just interesting to see the unguarded comments immediately afterwards...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks - I hadn't seen it yet. What made me more horrified than that private comment was the way he completely patronised that woman and didn't listen at all, just lectured her.

    ReplyDelete
  7. yes, i thought about running just the "money" clip, but if you watch all the way through, the full force of it hits home so much more. She had all sorts of views and opinions about policies that hit her eg, fears her grandchildren wouldn't be able to afford uni. thanks potty

    ReplyDelete
  8. Remember the 'get all the bad news out at the same time' perspective?

    If GB and team had any common sense then they would use this as perfect opportunity to admit that, regardless who wins, taxes will be going up, childcare benefits will be abolished, and we will all be up to our ears in debt for the foreseeable future thanks to the crippling debt this country now has to shoulder.

    Regardless of who is working in what job or how many immigrants are/are not in employment in the UK.

    Oh, sorry, that would be too honest, wouldn't it?

    LCM x

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am not a big Brown fan but I did feel a little bit sorry for him - it could have happened to anyone really, and I'm sure they all say things like that when they are stressed and knackered after a day's campaigning. (I'm still not quite sure what happened exactly- was it broadcast live or did the networks hear him say it from the live feed and then decide to publicise it?)

    But it was a serious mistake which has probably been the final straw in his chances of re-election.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Clare, I love your blog!! I spend some of my time in Moscow and I have a feeling I know you from an e mail book club/Phoebe's walks list but it is very cool to see your work on line! I'd love to meet for a coffee (Im not a pyscho-blog stalker -- Henrietta C can vouch for me!) when I get back in June.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mwa - although I don't think he can be singled out from a whole host of other politician for that...

    WITN, thanks for commenting and yes - it's interesting how this has all been reduced down to her remarks about immigrants when that was only one of her concerns.

    LCM - it most certainly would be. Ever thought of running yourself? I'd vote for you...

    NVG, I'm not sure it's the final straw but it has highlighted one of the very issues that they've been very quiet about until now...

    Jennifer, thanks for visiting and I will try and e-mail you off-line as coffee sounds like a very good idea (although I'm pretty sure I'm not who you think I might be!)

    ReplyDelete

Go on - you know you want to...