Bollitics: VT General Election Poll #5 - Leaders Debate Two

[tonyh29]

just seen his radio interview ..he sounds pretty low doesn't he ... almost humble , but we all know he isn't capable of that

but whilst you are in an apologising mood Gordon , why not apologise for the past 2 years under you leadership and be done with it :-)

[Clarry]

Why does Brown drop a bollock and the thread somehow turn into a anti David Cameron fest

Don't think it has really save a couple of posters who are a little biased

And you're not biased?

[Jondaken]

Least the comment shows hes an anti-biggot!

Not sure he knows who the biggots are though..,

[Richard]

Not to the extent that it closes my mind to the wider debate.

For example I will quite openly say that should this have happened to Cameron then it would have been very embarrassing and he would have been at fault. Has a labour supporter on here said Brown was at fault or just sought to try and defend him all the time by turning it to Cameron and Osborne ?

[Richard]

[drat01]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, never cross a GILF... - Phil Jupitus

[bickster]

The Sue woman btw is Brown's unpaid personal assistant, she's been with him years and works for nothing, as her husband is very wealthy apparently. So rest assured she won't be contributing to the unemployment figures anytime soon.

But like some analyst on the Radio said before, all three of them have been pandering to women in the last few days in attempt to woo the female vote and if there is one group of women that Labour needed to hang onto its the northern working class women. They are absolutely core to Labours vote, way to go Gordon. You really have proved what an imbecile you are what with not realising the microphone was still on AND slagging off your core vote, then trying to blame someone else proving all the rumours about you to be true.

He won't have harmed Labour's definite voters over this but the possibles and some who had small doubts will have just moved a little closer to that Clegg bloke I think

[Risso]

Come on Cleggy boy. Just don't do or say anything too stupid for the next few days, and you're going to be an incredibly influential figure one way or t'other.

[Richard]

On that BBC interview he also says he doesn't believe she is a bigot, but his supporters have come out and said she is. So is she or isn't she?

It seems the best form of defence is also attack so the slagging off of the woman on here, and the appalling comments calling her fat, well that really is low

[PauloBarnesi]

Gordon Brown's gaffe is nothing short of a disaster

The PM has just lost the votes of hundreds of thousands of people who agree with Gillian Duffy

(10)

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Lance Price

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 April 2010 13.52 BST

Article history

Gordon Brown described Gillian Duffy as 'a bigoted woman' during a walkabout in Rochdale. Photograph: Rex Features

The media finally have the campaign gaffe they were looking for. Gordon Brown has handed it to them on a plate. He has nobody to blame but himself – although that does not appear to stop him trying.

The PR disaster was immediate and obvious. The clip of the prime minister referring to Gillian Duffy as a "bigoted woman" will run all day on television and radio as often as the famous Prescott Punch in 2001. His "apology" on the Jeremy Vine programme served only to make matters worse. Brown looked devastated by what had happened, as well he might, but he seemed to want to blame the broadcasters for airing his words and said he was sorry "if I've said anything like that".

There's no "if" about it. The full-blown TV apology when it comes, as it must, will have to be personal, direct and unambiguous.

The political disaster is, if anything, more serious. To sustain its share of the vote and maximize the number of MPs it returns, Labour needs the votes of millions of traditional supporters like Duffy. The party has lost not just hers but potentially thousands of others, who will listen to what she said and find that they agree. Does Brown think they are all bigots too?

The tragedy is that it need not have happened. Gordon Brown handled the initial exchange well. He stayed calm, polite and made some good points in response to what he was asked. It was a wholly unexceptional encounter with a fairly typical member of the public.

Labour candidates – like those of all of other parties – will have encountered voters with genuinely bigoted opinions on doorsteps up and down the country. They are often racist, ill-informed and offensive. Gillian Duffy was none of those things.

Yes, Brown is under pressure. Yes, he knows his campaign is not going well. He is even entitled to his private opinions. But he has been around long enough to know the dangers of microphones that stay live when you've finished saying your piece. What happened was a disaster of his own making. He was wrong to blame the aide who set up the visit, wrong to blame the media for using the dynamite he had placed in their hands, and wrong not to use his first opportunity to apologise with dignity.

The Guardian comment

[drat01]

Why does Brown drop a bollock and the thread somehow turn into a anti David Cameron fest ..

And if that had been David Cameron.........................

- Tory voter

if that had been Cameron, you would have torn him a new one for saying what Brown did.

- Tory voter

And what if it had been David Cameron........

- Tory voter

[PauloBarnesi]

Gordon Brown's election car crash provides Labour with its most dangerous moment of the campaign

Prime minister's description of lifelong Labour supporter as bigot highlights character flaws

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Gillian Duffy's encounter with Gordon Brown may be the defining moment of the general election campaign. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

It is a car crash for Gordon Brown that has the potential to inflict immense damage on both him and the Labour campaign.

The prime minister's description of Gillian Duffy as a "bigoted woman" will probably rank alongside the famous John Prescott punch of 2001 as one of those election-defining moments.

Optimists in the Labour ranks will hope Brown's bust-up will eventually play out in the way Prescott's encounter with an egg-throwing protestor did.

Labour initially thought it was facing a disaster. But the following day, when Tony Blair brushed it off as John being John, the incident subsided as voters laughed off Prescott as a man of passion.

It is always a mistake to try to predict how such unpredictabe events will play out. But here are three reasons why Labour will be worried:

• The prime minister's warm final remarks to Duffy in public, followed seconds later by his angry outburst in private, highlight one of his character traits – that he says one thing in public and another in private. The coup to replace Blair in 2006? Not me, guv, Brown said – until it turned out that one of the plotters had visited him at home.

• Macavity the Cat. Brown always avoids the blame when something goes wrong and points the finger at others. So today the encounter was all the fault of his long-serving – and long-suffering – aide Sue Nye.

• Immigration could now take centre stage after Brown took exception to Duffy's anger about the presence of people from eastern Europe. Labour has been reluctant to talk about immigration because opinion polls show voters feel very strongly about the issue. The Tories have also been reluctant to talk about immigration for fear of being branded extremists.

The encounter today may give the Tories the chance to say that, on immigration, they are reflecting the concerns of lifelong Labour supporters like Duffy.

The Liberal Democrats will be nervous if immigration becomes a major issue in the final week of the campaign. Nick Clegg has struggled in television interviews to explain his plans for a regional points-based system.

Labour will hope Brown's visit to Duffy to apologise in person will show another side to his character that started to surface this year after his Piers Morgan television interview: a humane and caring side.

Lord Mandelson, who took charge of the Labour damage limitation exercise this afternoon, set the tone by saying the prime minister was mortified.

It's all down to Duffy. If she accepts Brown's apology, Labour may be able to move on. If not, Brown may be in real trouble.

3.55pm UPDATE:

Brown went into Duffy's house at 3.03pm. At 3.42pm, a smiling prime minister emerged to say he had offered his "sincere apologies" after misunderstanding what she had said.

"I have just been talking to Gillian. I'm mortified by what's happened. I have given her my sincere apologies.

I misunderstood what she said, and she has accepted there was a misunderstanding and she has accepted my apology. If you like, I am a penitent sinner.

Sometimes you say things that you don't mean to say, sometimes you say things by mistake and sometimes when you say things you want to correct it very quickly.

So I wanted to come here and say to Gillian I was sorry, to say that I'd made a mistake but to also say I understood the concerns that she was bringing to me and I simply misunderstood some of the words that she used.

But there was no sign of Duffy. Labour's campaign now lies in her hands.

From the brother of the most important person in fashion, aka Patrick Wintour

[PauloBarnesi]

Its definitely made the day more interesting.

[PauloBarnesi]

Brown has said he’s a penitent sinner.

[drat01]

Its definitely made the day more interesting.

Certainly enabled some to spit out some pretty spiteful childish bile when you would think they would be more concerned with Power

Policies .................. nah they can wait until June

At least Brown couldn't deny what he said as people heard it. Shame all political people are not like that - some tell lies.

[avfc89]

I like Brown; he has passion and I like passion

[mjmooney]

Just imagine if Winston Churchill had been miked up when he was PM.

[Rodders]

Must be so tempting to just come out and say:

"Actually, to be quite honest, I found the lady's views to be repugnant and so far removed from my own, that I felt her views to be offensive. This is a democracy and an election campaign. Evidently I won't have her vote, but then again, I'm not interested in courting the votes of those with such hostile viewpoints - she's all yours David / Nick G."

[drat01]

Must be so tempting to just come out and say:

"Actually, to be quite honest, I found the lady's views to be repugnant and so far removed from my own, that I felt her views to be offensive. This is a democracy and an election campaign. Evidently I won't have her vote, but then again, I'm not interested in courting the votes of those with such hostile viewpoints - she's all yours David / Nick G."

[Reality]

I wonder who will be the first out of Clegg and Cameron to ask Brown if they are bigoted?