Brown Campaigns; Calls Voter Bigoted

[Sheilbh]

Brown's comment is interesting. The quote I have seen is "Oh, everything, she's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour." Which shows a certain denseness on Brown's part - apart from the negativeness of the phrase bigoted woman, he's talked to her for five minutes, parting on apparently friendly terms, without realising that she was going to vote Labour in the election...at least, before his comment was broadcast across the country.

As Martin Bright pointed out though everything about the woman screamed 'she's one of us; be nice to her': she'd worked for the council in the community for thirty years, her dad used to go to Manchester Free Trade Hall and sing 'The Red Flag' for God's sake

[Fate]

The Labour party keeps reaching new lows. They're pathetic.

No. This speaks more about how backwards British are when it comes to race relations.

Nothing she said was particularly "bigoted", though. Immigration is quite a big concern here in the UK (particularly given the unemployment), and by labelling those who disagree with your policies on it as "bigots" really doesn't reassure people that you care what they think (even more so when they are your core voters!).

Brown shouldn't care how a racist cracker takes the comment. Brown should shame and demean these type of people in the strongest possible terms.

[Sheilbh]

I saw the interview--it was painful and cringeworthy. I can see Brown was pissed about being left out there with her. But she didn't deserve to be called a bigot. I like Brown, but he sucks as a politician.

The worst bit is the radio interview he's doing when he hears the tape.  It's just really very sad:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8649800.stm

[Neil]

Brown's comment is interesting. The quote I have seen is "Oh, everything, she's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour." Which shows a certain denseness on Brown's part - apart from the negativeness of the phrase bigoted woman, he's talked to her for five minutes, parting on apparently friendly terms, without realising that she was going to vote Labour in the election...at least, before his comment was broadcast across the country.

As Martin Bright pointed out though everything about the woman screamed 'she's one of us; be nice to her': she'd worked for the council in the community for thirty years, her dad used to go to Manchester Free Trade Hall and sing 'The Red Flag' for God's sake

Is that really 'one of us' to Brown?  He went to one of the best universities in the country, has been in Parliament for over 30 years and has been one of the most powerful men in Britain for over a decade.  She's a foot soldier, he's a field marshal.

[Sheilbh]

Is that really 'one of us' to Brown?  He went to one of the best universities in the country, has been in Parliament for over 30 years and has been one of the most powerful men in Britain for over a decade.  She's a foot soldier, he's a field marshal.

She's as Labour as they come and Brown is, whatever else, a Labour tribalist.  Plus there's lots of sentimentality in the Labour party.  You mention your dad singing the Red Flag in the 1930s and they go misty-eyed.

[Neil]

Is that really 'one of us' to Brown?  He went to one of the best universities in the country, has been in Parliament for over 30 years and has been one of the most powerful men in Britain for over a decade.  She's a foot soldier, he's a field marshal.

She's as Labour as they come and Brown is, whatever else, a Labour tribalist.  Plus there's lots of sentimentality in the Labour party.  You mention your dad singing the Red Flag in the 1930s and they go misty-eyed.

Yeah, but he's the Duke of Wellington, and she's some wretched infantryman.

[Sheilbh]

In a way that's tragically appropriate Gordon Brown campaigning today in two separate locations was interrupted by the sound of nearby car crashes.  Literal car crashes.

[The Minsky Moment]

Yeah, but he's the Duke of Wellington, and she's some wretched infantryman.

More like he's Admiral Byng, and she is one of the swabbies picked for firing squad duty.

[Admiral Yi]

More like he's Admiral Byng, and she is one of the swabbies picked for firing squad duty.

Surely you mean the hanging detail.

[alfred russel]

I saw the interview--it was painful and cringeworthy. I can see Brown was pissed about being left out there with her. But she didn't deserve to be called a bigot. I like Brown, but he sucks as a politician.

The worst bit is the radio interview he's doing when he hears the tape.  It's just really very sad:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8649800.stm

I understand that he didn't know that radio interview was being filmed. I agree it was somewhat sad. You can imagine when he puts his head in his hands that is the moment he realizes he won't be prime minister much longer.

[Gambrinus]

More like he's Admiral Byng, and she is one of the swabbies picked for firing squad duty.

Surely you mean the hanging detail.

No: http://www.executedtoday.com/2010/03/14/1757-admiral-john-byng/

[The Minsky Moment]

More like he's Admiral Byng, and she is one of the swabbies picked for firing squad duty.

Surely you mean the hanging detail.

Surely not.
I have pics.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=BHC0380

[DGuller]

In a way that's tragically appropriate Gordon Brown campaigning today in two separate locations was interrupted by the sound of nearby car crashes.  Literal car crashes.

That's almost as good as the lightning striking when Giuliani was asked a question about being a good Catholic in one of the debate.

[Neil]

Yeah, but he's the Duke of Wellington, and she's some wretched infantryman.

More like he's Admiral Byng, and she is one of the swabbies picked for firing squad duty.

Byng was shot by Royal Marines, not sailors.

I think that Wellington is more apt, because of Brown's contempt for his inferiors.

[Sheilbh]

That's almost as good as the lightning striking when Giuliani was asked a question about being a good Catholic in one of the debate.

The Times has footage.  This Labour campaign has just been utterly awful (not just the bigot stuff).  Although the other two parties haven't showered themselves in glory.  Why in God's name the Tories haven't had Cameron touring the country with Ken Clarke is beyond me.  They've got one human seeming Tory that people like and they get him on TV once (and then he, accidentally, contradicts party policy).  Anyway the car crash:

Labour follows debate failure with car crash event
Martin Fletcher and Philippe Naughton

Labour's ill-starred election campaign took another hit today when Gordon Brown's launch of a poster designed to set the agenda for the final week was interrupted by a car crash.

Witnesses at the poster launch in Hockley, Birmingham, said that, after a long squealing of tyres, A green Volkswagen Golf smashed into a bus shelter on a traffic island only yards from the car park where the Prime Minister and nine Cabinet ministers were lined up.

The driver of the car, an unemployed Labour supporter, was apparently trying to avoid a dustcart, one of whose occupants was shouting abuse at the ministers, as it negotiated a nearby roundabout.

Yards away, Lord Mandelson, Labour's campaign supremo, was in full flight, praising Mr Brown for his "fighting performance" in last night's final TV debate.

Mr Brown was next to speak — although by that point all the reporters at the event had rushed over to the scene of the crash, where the car's airbags were deployed. The emergency services were quick to arrive. Even some of the Prime Minister's Special Branch officers rushed to the scene.

Omed Rashid, 27, the car driver, said the rubbish truck clipped his Golf, sending it out of control. "Luckily there was no-one at the bus stop," he said.

One of the refuse collectors, a 40-year-old man who identified himself only as Dell, denied causing the crash and was totally unapologetic. "Half our jobs are gone left, right and centre in this city," he said.

Journalists and camera crews returned to pepper the ministers with the inevitable question: was the crash a metaphor for Labour's campaign? "I don't agree," Lord Mandelson replied.

"I believe it's game on for all the parties between now and May 6...We will fight for every vote in every seat." Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, concurred: "The election is wide open," he insisted.

A junior official was more candid - "I feel like a dog that can't be kicked any more."

Jay Bailey, 36, a self-employed consultant, said that she saw the truck make contact with the car. Mrs Bailey said: "The lorry driver was shouting abuse as they drove past and they did not see the car. It hit the car, which lurched into the bus shelter."

Stephen Miller, 39, a computer engineer, said: "I heard shouting and turned around and saw three or four guys shouting at the politicians. I turned back round and did not see the crash but heard the car screeching and then the crash."

Inspector Jim Gooderidge, of West Midlands Police, said: "We don't know the full circumstances of the incident yet, but the drivers are being spoken to by officers. Nobody was injured."

The incident came only two days after Mr Brown committed a campaign gaffe, describing a 66-year-old voter as a "bigoted woman" after being questioned over immigration policy in Rochdale.

The two new posters in question feature the slogan — in child-like writing — "Don't Forget to Vote Labour" and are meant to reinforce Labour warnings that both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats would cut support for families.

"This election is a big choice. About protecting the future of your family, or putting that future at risk," Mr Brown told the launch. "The time for debate has finished. The time for decision has begun."

A number of instant polls after the last of three televised debates made David Cameron clear winner, with the Prime Minister again trailing in third place. A snap Populus poll for The Times put Mr Cameron neck and neck with Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, who is hoping to hold the balance of power after May 6.

Labour strategists have been hoping desperately that Mr Brown would put in a performance that would change the dynamics of the campaign — which he clearly failed to do despite pressing home his economic record.

Mr Cameron cautioned that the election was "far from won" for the Conservatives and said that he would spend the next six days concentrating on winning every vote.

The Labour election co-ordinator, Douglas Alexander, also insisted that the result of the election was still uncertain, and said that Mr Brown would carry on fighting until the end.

"He is going to be campaigning the length and breadth of the country in the days ahead," he said. "We are going to be fighting from now until the election for every single vote. This election is wide open. Nobody has any certainty how this election will play itself out."

Edit:  Oops, link to the footage:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7112732.ece