Gordon Brown Didn’t Mean What He Said – Really?

The Labour spin machine has been working overtime, trying to make the case that we all say things we don’t mean but it simply doesn’t wash when you are talking about the Prime Minister accusing a voter, and a Labour voter at that, of being a bigot because they ask about the problems they see in their community.  Only seconds after saying what a nice person she was the Prime Minister was saying Mrs Duffy was an awful woman and a bigot. Anyone who watched the interview would see that wasn’t the case. This raises questions about the judgement of the Prime Minster but I suspect what it really shows was that he wasn’t really listening. He was only talking to the lady because he thought it would look good on TV and he really didn’t care what she had to say.

We do all say things we regret and in a moment of anger we can say things we don’t really mean but why at that moment in time was the PM so disturbed by the encounter that his judgement was affected and his anger roused. It is worrying that someone in such authority can be so easily upset. It is puzzling to see what appeared such a good natured and positive meeting with a very nice lady upset the PM so much. To his credit he was swift to apologise but that would never have happened if there had not been a live microphone listening to every word he said. Perhaps he would have regretted saying what he did but why did he say it?

If, as Harriet Harmen, Lord Peter Mandrobot and many others, wheeled out to defend the PM, say we shouldn’t take it too seriously because we all say things we don’t mean, the next question has to be, When should we believe what the PM is saying. When does he mean what he says?

I have some sympathy for the PM. Not enough to want him to be elected and not enough to want him to come to tea but I do feel sorry for someone who sees their dreams crushed and that looks likely now for Gordon Brown.

He may have been wrong from the start. He certainly never felt to me like someone who should be running the country. His reputation for crafty and clinical management of people, details and political maneuvering sits uncomfortably with me but what do I know. Maybe that is what all the political classes aspire to being. It was interesting that GB was eased into the position of Prime Minister without much fuss or inspection. The electorate was never consulted. We were not asked if we wanted to kick Blair out of office or if we felt Gordon Brown should have his finger on the nuclear button and the key to No 10.

I was always dubious about a man who felt it was his entitlement to be the Prime Minster. Working hard and worrying about every detail may make you effective at getting things done but there is a lot more to managing a country than just working hard. It may be that history will prove there was more to the man than we saw in public but it is the public face and the actions he takes that we remember.

There are so many things that can be said about yesterdays encounter with a grandmother in Rochdale. So many questions raised about the Gordon Browns character and the way he views other people and the electorate. It would appear that GB thinks he knows best and everybody else is wrong regardless of their point of view.

Watching the meeting with Mrs Duffy it appeared to me that GB was frustrated that as he was about to answer one question he was given another in the way that conversations and discussion often proceed when someone is eager to get their point across. I suspect he has been instructed that he should not simply overcome the questions by talking over them himself but he clealry wanted to just say what he thought rather than listen to another point of view.

It cannot be easy for a man like Gordon Brown to smile in public yet have to view the polls and face the prospect of never having been elected as Prime Minister and being rejected by the electorate. We read that GB likes to get his own way and everything we see seems to support that view so he must feel frustrated that th electorate appear to be going against him but politicians of all parties forget, at their peril, they are supposed to represent the electorate. People like the very down to earth Mrs Duffy who has suffered so much media attention because Gordon Brown says things that he now says were not what he was really thinking.

One final thought in this final week of the election. If you were an ordinary voter and Gordon Brown approached you in the street, would you want to say anything to him knowing you might be denigrated and criticised as soon as your back was turned? I know I wouldn’t.