I am not a sheep, I have my own mind
I have had enough of being told what and how to think
Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech, I will speak out.
I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge.
"I believe Gordon Brown has been the worst prime minister we have had in this country.
"It is a disgrace and he owes an apology to the people and the Queen."
Not my words, not the words of a Conservative but those of a Labour PPC for north-west Norfolk, Manish Sood. Manish Sood also said that "All the policies he is bringing in are a total disaster." Very perceptive chap obviously. The Telegraph report Gordon Brown's reaction and it is the reaction you would expect from the great 'fearty' fool:
'The Prime Minister sought to brush off Mr Sood's comments when he was asked about them in Leamington Spa.
"We are fighting an election campaign and we are fighting to the finish," he told Five News in a pre-recorded interview.
Mr Brown added: "I'm not going to get into any other issues than the issues of this election." '
So a Labour PPC calling his party leader 'the worst prime minister ever and saying that the prime minister owes an apology to the Queen is not an election issue? Gordon Brown - the worst prime minister ever - seems like an election issue to me.
I see that Nick Clegg has been brave enough to undertake an interview with Jeremy Paxman, on BBC at the moment. I wonder if Gordon Brown will finally agree to an equivalent interview with Jeremy Paxman, or he still the big fearty that he often seems to be? Happy enough in front of a tame audience at today's manifesto launch or meeting Labour supporters in a cosy family setting but not happy to be questioned by a decent interviewer.
Watch Gordon Brown thought of as an economic genius when he obviously doesn't know what he is talking about. What the fuck is he talking about when he says that the Conservative plans to cancel the 1% NI increase will take £6 billion out of the economy? How is that the case? Will the £6 billion just disappear or will it be available to spend by the companies who will not have to pay it? Perhaps the companies will use it to invest in equipment or take on new staff, what does Gordon Brown think will happen to the £6 billion not taken in higher taxation? I get the feeling that Gordon Brown is such a centraliser that he cannot conceive of money being spent other than in the public sector, for what he means is that his public sector will be denied £6 billion, that his carefully constructed client state will be denied yet more money.
To give Nick Robinson some credit he does gently push Gordon Brown as to why he claimed the businessmen had been deceived, but Gordon Brown just doesn't answer. He really seems to think that only he understands what is happening as everyone else has been deceived. In Gordon Brown's mind he really does bestride the world as an economic genius whilst we are all idiots. Gordon Brown really needs to be pressed on this subject again and again and maybe Jeremy Paxman would do that but Gordon Brown has apparently chickened out of a Jeremy Paxman interview; that's Gordon 'fearty' Brown in action again.
Also didn't Tony Blair also promise to serve a full term before the 2005 election?
When Johnson Beharry was awarded his Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration which is awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces, his name and details were all over the BBC website. Oddly neww that he refused to shake Gordon Brown's hand at a ceremony has not made it to the BBC website.
If you want to keep an eye on the BBC's 'unbiased' news coverage, keep an eye on this search, until the BBC mention Johnson Beharry's comments at Remembrance Day that:
'he said the Prime Minister was “fidgeting and moving” during the two minute silence.
“I've got head and back injuries that put me back in hospital in a lot of pain quite regularly, so if I could do it there's no reason he couldn't," he said. "It was very rude.
“I was absolutely furious with him. All that was going through my head was to knock him out.
“So on the official line-up that time, I decided I'd get his attention and let him know how I felt.
“When he offered his hand to me I just turned around and walked away. I wanted him to think about his actions and it worked.”'
then I will have to assume that they are irredeemably pro-Labour.
Iain Martin in the Wall Street Journal captures the flavour of the atmosphere in Number 10 as Gordon 'fearty' Brown prepares to go to Buckingham Palace to call the general election. Do read the whole piece, here's an extract:
'GB (getting up and pacing around the horse-shoe shaped hub with his hands over his ears): “Everybody stop shouting! Just let me think. (Another long silence) Look… look… Ed, I’ve been working on some numbers overnight on the Tories national insurance plans, and boy we’ve really got them. Their numbers don’t add up. It’s gonna be just like the old days! Ed, if we can keep going, I know we’re going to get that big breakthrough. I know it, I can feel it. Just a few more days now, then I’ll call the election. I promise.”
Sue Nye (leaving the room in a hurry): “I knew this would happen. I’m going to get Sarah.”
Ed Balls (patiently): “Gordon, you remember how we talked about why there has to be an election every five years? And that it’s almost exactly five years since the last one, and that rather than waiting until the final, final date possible, we’ve all agreed, and you have decided, haven’t you, remember, that it’s best to do this thing on May 6. And everyone out there (points out of the window of Number 10) expects you to go and see the Queen and get her permission and then tell the country it’s election time. Today, now.”
GB: “Can I call Peter? Just for a second?”
Charlie Whelan: “Nope. You’ve had more than enough of Mandelson and his advice. We’ve taken your mobile phone away.”
...
Sarah (quietly): “No. No more delays. (Quickly brightening again). But what did we discuss last night? What did I tell you Gordon?”
GB (looking pleased as punch): “That I’m going to win the election.”
Sarah (nodding patiently, taking his hand and leading him out of the room and down the corridor toward the front door of Number 10): “Of course you are. And why are you going to win Gordon?”
GB: “Because I saved the banks and then I saved the economy. I’m a serious man for serious times, not like him (glowering now)… that Lord… Lord… Lord Snooty Cameron and his pal Osborne… I am serious and I am going to win and still be prime minister and lead this country into a fairer future for another five years. Or maybe even a bit more than that… anyway, until I can hand over to Ed to continue the work of change.”'
'Johnson Beharry, Victoria Cross hero, refuses to shake Gordon Brown's hand.
Johnson Beharry, Britain's highest decorated serving soldier, refused to shake Gordon Brown's hand in a protest during a state ceremony.
The winner of the Victoria Cross said Mr Brown had repeatedly disrespected him, his uniform and the Armed Forces.
The Prime Minister has since written a letter to Lance Corporal Beharry in an attempt to make amends.
But L/Cpl Beharry said it was a personal, rather than political gesture, according to The Sun.
He said that Mr Brown had not looked him or any other servicemen in the eye at a reception in Downing Street in November 2008.
Then in Westminster Abbey during the Remembrance Day service last November he said the Prime Minister was “fidgeting and moving” during the two minute silence.
“I've got head and back injuries that put me back in hospital in a lot of pain quite regularly, so if I could do it there's no reason he couldn't," he said. "It was very rude.
“I was absolutely furious with him. All that was going through my head was to knock him out.
“So on the official line-up that time, I decided I'd get his attention and let him know how I felt.
“When he offered his hand to me I just turned around and walked away. I wanted him to think about his actions and it worked.”
The NCO from the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment said Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife spotted his snub and wanted to invite him to No 10 to apologise, but no invitation materialised.
L/Cpl Beharry added: "This is nothing to do with the election, or who I want to be PM. My problem is with him personally, Gordon Brown the man." '
Anyone who has seen Gordon Brown at the Cenotaph or anywhere near real soldiers can see how uncomfortable he is. Gordon Brown has starved the frontline armed forces of resources, action that many believe has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many and serious life-changing injuries to many more.
Thankfully the majority of the British people realise what the truth of the situation is and rate Gordon Brown accordingly. The BBC, who also detest the British military for their generally right of centre views, will no doubt not report this story but maybe someone could raise it with Gordon 'fearty' Brown the next time he is within earshot.
It would seem that Gordon Brown has managed to avoid PMQs again.
PMQs last half an hour on a Wednesday; the preparation time for Gordon Brown must be near nil since he doesn't answer any hostile questions, preferring to use his favourites 'Brownies' and dividing lines and has answers to Labour planted questions at his fingertips.
This is the only opportunity, every week, to try and hold Gordon Brown to account and yet again the great 'fearty' has bottled it. I am in no doubt that had Gordon Brown wished he could have arranged affairs so that he both met Jacob Zuma and been present for PMQs but he didn't.
As a result we will have the pantomime spectacle of Harriet Harman showing her lack of knowledge of economics, foreign affairs etc. whilst William Hague holds back his acid tongue in case he is accused of bullying a woman. It's pathetic and it is all the fault of Gordon yellow streak right down his flabby back' Brown.
I wonder if anyone can find figures that show what percentage of PMQs were missed by Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair compared with those missed by the great big clunking fearty? I would wager that Gordon Brown has missed a higher proportion than any of those recent Prime Ministers but then he is a bigger coward than any of them as well.
David Cameron and his team will have a tough weekend (and beyond) to cope with. First the Irish were bullied into voting YES on the Lisbon Treaty, I make that 1:1 shouldn't there now be a decider? This will allow the BBC to try and open up as many splits as they can during the Conservative Party Conference; the BBC/Labour alliance needs to make up ground fast - expect the BBC to invite as many Euro-sceptics as they can into the studios next week and to concentrate on the EU in all interviews. Second Gordon Brown has folded and agreed to debated, with conditions, he and Labour have nothing to lose - they will therefore be dangerous.
The Mail reports the unsurprising news that Sky News political editor Adam Boulton says Mr Blair has a near contemptuous view of his successor's ability to bounce back and that Mr Blair believes Mr Brown may find an excuse to 'duck out' of the Election - which must take place by next June - possibly on health grounds.
I have rarely been so surprised by a piece of political news. But then came this from the same article; apparently
"Mr Boulton says: 'By propping up Mr Brown, Lord Mandelson has delayed the Election - and quite possibly facilitated the ratification of the treaty. This will doubtless endear him to EU leaders, who in turn might look all the more favourably on choosing Mr Blair as their president.'"
I am flabbergasted.
So Adam Boulton's years of political nous tell us that Tony Blair thinks that Gordon Brown is a political coward and that Peter Mandelson is more loyal to the EU than the UK; gosh!
Even though Gordon Brown has nothing to lose, I still think that he won't have the courage to enter into a debate with David Cameron; as the PM is, above all else, a monumental coward.
What interests me is who will chair/moderate the debate, because that role will have a large part to play in shaping the debate. The BBC would be the natural home of such a debate and David Dimbleby the obvious choice as chairman. If David Dimbleby is put forward then David Cameron's team must veto the choice. The video of Harriet Harman controlling David Dimbleby was one of the most eloquent insights into the relationship between Labour ministers and senior BBC journalists/presenters that I have ever seen. The video shows Harriet Harman silently but firmly using touch to instruct an obedient David Dimbleby to try and stop Ian Duncan Smith from embarrassing the government. Absolutely disgusting and I know that I have seen that sort of thing before on Question Time, if only I could remember when; I think it was Harriet Harman that time as well.
Here's the video again, it deserves wider playing... Maybe someone could ask David Dimbleby about it at the next Question Time...
Gordon Brown has "written" a book called "Courage: Eight Portraits". I presume that he thinks that by "writing" this book he will be forever associated with courage. Well since he bottled out of calling a general election and then wimped out of discussing human rights with King Abdullah; I don't think courage is quite the word, maybe cowardice would be nearer the mark.
