'All Gillian Duffy did was to press Mr Brown on his performance and the failings of politics. She was just passing and thought she would have her say. She deserved better than being dismissed as a ‘bigoted woman’ by the Prime Minister once she was out of earshot. Off-mike blunders are a routine hazard of politics (‘bastards’, ‘yo Blair’) but displaying contempt for the voters on that scale is catastrophic. As she has just said: “I’m very disappointed. It’s very upsetting. He’s an educated person. He wants to lead the country.” Ouch ouch ouch. He’s made it worse by apologising with qualification, with a weasely ‘if’.
What makes it worse is that Mr Brown had just finished a conversation with her which he was anxious to prolong after he discovered that she was not his enemy. She was in fact a fan of what Labour was doing on education, for example, in her area. She had just patted his hand and wished him well. He asked for the names of her grandchildren, praised the red of her jacket, and described her and hers as a ‘good family’. That should have been good retail politics, with what looked like a nicely deflected bit of danger: angry woman telling him ‘what are you going to do to get us out out of all this debt Gordon?’ mollified and turned into an ally by sheer persistence.
...
On the substance: is she bigoted? She pressed Mr Brown about immigration, but like millions of people who are anxious about the sea-change to society that results from the Government’s open-doors policy, concern is not the same as bigotry. For Mr Brown, in his frustration, to assume she is bigoted, speaks volumes about the contempt of the political classes for the fears of of the voters.'
Iain Martin has the 'exclusive transcript' of Gordon Brown's 'apology' to Gillian Duffy:
'Gordon Brown, standing in the hallway next to Sue Nye and looking miserable: “Hullo. Hullo Gillian…”
Sue Nye (hissing quietly): “Mrs. Duffy. Gordon, it’s Mrs. Duffy to you.”
Brown: “Yes… uhhh… hullo Mrs. Gillian Duffy.”
Mrs. Duffy: “I suppose you’d better come through… (motions towards the lounge)… I haven’t even had any time to clean up, what with all the men from the newspapers and Mrs. Arbuckle coming round to try and tune in the freeview wotsit so that I could see it all again on Sky. Have you seen it?”
Brown : “I… I… yes, I have seen it.”
Mrs. Duffy: “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Brown: “It’s most unfortunate.”
Mrs. Duffy: “Unfortunate? You’re bloody right it’s unfortunate. Excuse my language, but you’ve got me angry.”
Mrs. Arbuckle: “I’ve never heard her swear. You’ve got her angry.”
Brown: “Look… please… can I, can I? Look… Mrs. Duffy. Can I call you Gillian?
Mrs. Duffy: (stony silence)
Brown: “Look I’m sorry for what happened. It’s been unfortunate. It’s not been very nice for anyone, least of all you, and then, look… me… I’m here… I’ve come all this way… I’m sorry for your distress, if I said anything that might have been heard on camera as being offensive… But please, this is not easy for me.”
Mrs. Duffy: “Not easy for you? It’s not exactly a cakewalk for me either. Have you seen it out there? There’s hundreds of them. All I did this morning was get up and go for a walk to the shops. Now look what’s happened. Are you sorry for what you said?”
Brown: “I’m sorry it was recorded and that you feel offended.”
Mrs. Duffy: “That’s not what I asked you.”
Brown, walking over to the mantelpiece and pointing at a photograph: “Are these your grand-children? Aren’t children great?”
Mrs. Duffy (sighing): “Yes, children are great. Now, answer my question. Are you sorry?”
Brown: “I…”
Mrs. Duffy (quietly and calmly): “Are you sorry?”
Brown: “I… (exhaling deeply and frowning)… I… I’ve never done this before… Yes… I… I am sorry.”
Mrs. Duffy (her mood softening markedly) : “There, that wasn’t so difficult now was it? That’s all I wanted to hear. Nothing wrong with me asking questions about immigrants, see? But you’re a busy man under pressure and though you shouldn’t have said what you said, what’s done is done. No use crying over spilt milk. You’ve said sorry and it’s in the past. Now, can I get you a cup of tea? I must say, love, you look so very tired…. are you feeling ok, love?”
Mr. Brown: “I’m just getting on with the job… we face so many challenges to build a future fair for all… jobs for the future… more apprenticeships every year, year on year. Fairer schools… fewer foreigners… older hospitals, or is it newer hospitals? Fairer pensioners… a future fair for freemasons…
...
Brown: “Would you, would you… possibly come outside when I leave and… and… and… maybe make a statement saying you’ve forgiven me and that you’re voting Labour?”
Mrs. Duffy: “No, love. I couldn’t possibly do that. My agent told me not to say a word to a soul until the interviewer and photographer gets here from London. Apparently I’ve to say nothing publicly until later on this afternoon. It’s in the contract. I’ll say one thing for you Mr. Brown though - you’ve ensured I got something important today.”
Brown: “What’s that?”
Mrs. Duffy: “I would never have got the money for that new conservatory without all this.”
(*) All of the words in this transcript are imaginary. '
Meanwhile the blogosphere has some new campaign posters...
1 comment:
I suspect that "transcript" is pretty close to reality !
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