The one hundred and eighty eighth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award - Gordon Brown

The Mail seemed shocked to discover that Gordon Brown is a little inconsistent in his views.

He once described Gazza’s wonder goal against the Scots at Wembley as one of his favourite footballing memories.

But Gordon Brown, who no longer courts the English vote, has now spoken of his heartbreak at watching Gary McAllister’s botched penalty for Scotland in that famous Euro ’96 match.

In a plea to Scots to vote against independence in September’s referendum, the former Prime Minister said he ‘yields to no-one’ in his love of Scotland.

He spoke fondly of his trips with the Tartan Army to Wembley, Spain, Italy and France and recalled Jim Baxter’s skills against then-world champions England in an historic 3-2 victory for the Scots in 1967.

Mr Brown also said he was as ‘humiliated’ as any Scot with the rugby team’s massacre at the hands of the Welsh in last weekend’s Six Nations match.

'The only comfort is that we were beaten by Wales, and not England,' he said.

His comments, made at an event in Perth where Labour is holding its annual Scottish conference, are a far cry from previous attempts to woo English sports fans when he was Chancellor and Prime Minister.

In the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, Mr Brown said: 'Two-thirds of all Scots want England to win, and I’m certainly one of them.

'[I have been to] lots of England matches, but the most memorable were the Euro 96 game against Scotland, with Gazza's great goal, and the 0-0 game in Rome the following year when England held on to qualify for France 98.'

...

Mr Brown said: 'I yield to no one in my patriotic pride in being a Scot. I was there when Gary McAllister missed the penalty.'

A politician, a Labour politician at that, changes his tune depending upon the audience and his immediate needs? "No shit, Sherlock"