Bigot!

[gwEm]

I'm not big in to politics to be honest, but I found that whole story thoroughly amusing - its the way the whole British media hyped the thing!

[Philly Q]

Whether Mrs Whatever-her-name-is is a bigot or not, and regardless of what Brown said, it's pissing me off that it's suddenly become the biggest issue in the whole campaign.  Or at least the media seem determined that it should be.

Was British politics and political coverage always this superficial?  I don't remember it being this bad, but maybe I have rose-tinted glasses.

[nfe]

Prescott punching someone only lasted a couple days in the press, and actually did him favours in the long run, same with John Major and the "bastards". We'll see about this in the long run.

I have to wonder whether we'd have even heard about it had it been David Cameron, given it was caught on a Sky News mic.

Frankly, as much as I'm a long way from being a voter for ANY of the three major UK parties, I think it's smashing to see (ok, hear) a politician being a person. Getting irate about somebody expressing a candid opinion to a colleague in private is daft.

[MrBump]

Bigot.

Apparently it stands for:

Brown Is Gone On Thursday...

Apparently...

So much apathy in politics in the UK.  And I also hate the fact that this issue will probably have more influence than it's due.

But I do like the leaders debates - I think that they've enlivened things, and maybe Joe Public will start to think a little more about the political process and whether it's right for this country or not...

[nfe]

Bigot.

Apparently it stands for:

Brown Is Gone On Thursday...

Apparently...

So much apathy in politics in the UK.  And I also hate the fact that this issue will probably have more influence than it's due.

But I do like the leaders debates - I think that they've enlivened things, and maybe Joe Public will start to think a little more about the political process and whether it's right for this country or not...

Or maybe they just encourage people to only consider voting for three parties.

I like the idea of the debates, but I really think they should be regular and feature all parties with even one MP at some point. Like a Question Time with a less biased chair, less shouting and less comedians with nowt to say.

[Johnny Mac]

I think it's an insight in to his mind and goes to show that he doesn't like people to have an opinion that differs with his. I thought the word bigot was used in context with the far right, not life long Labour voters and local council workers. This incident is great TV, very bad for GB and the Labour party.  Which is just fine by me as I'm sick to death of them.

[Plexi Ken]

Storm in a tea cup, as is much of the political focus in the UK  :?  Seriously, what he said could have been so much worse. I get frustrated, lose my temper and say something I regret most days, maybe it's a Scottish thing 

In my last job I used to do some over-the-phone tech support. I'm glad no one had a mic recording what I was saying immediately after putting the reciever down   :oops:

[Antag]

OK, I'm going to dissent from the majority view & say that I think this is a big deal because of what it says about Brown's character:

Firstly, the casual dismissal of one of his own voters (she was a lifelong Labour supporter) as "bigoted" simply because she mentioned immigration

Secondly, the lack of perspective: the encounter he was reacting to had actually gone well.  This wasn't an ambush with some frothing Bufton-Tufton Tory squire berating him, it was a civil conversation that Brown handled easily & competently.  How by any measure was it "a disaster"?

Thirdly, the thin skin & over sensitivity.  A good politician needs a thick skin - even when something has gone disastrously wrong (which this hadn't) - & any good one would have already chalked it up to a job well done & be reading the next briefing paper before the Jag was even in first gear.

Finally, the obvious fear of unscripted contact.  This was the first time on this campaign that Brown has appeared in front of anyone but hand-picked labour supporters.  If he finds such an easy encounter so stressful, what does it say about his suitability to lead the country?

I'd have given anything to have been a fly on the wall when he crawled into her living room to apologise.  "Penitent sinner" indeed :lol:

[Alex]

I had to look up the word "bigot" for this.   :(

[Afghan Dave]

Antag - You've said it all. I agree completely.

[blue]

at least you lot get politicians, however corrupt and slimy, to vote for.  over here we just have various flavours of bigot!! and a lot of them manage to be slimy and corrupt while they're at it!  we're voting in the same election as you, but our votes have absolutely no influence on the outcome of the actual gobvernment election.

[Elliot]

To be fair to the son of the manse (TM) - scummy English lumpen proletariat are often bigots - However, it was his stupid fault for visiting a person who represents people who don't bother to vote most of the time - maybe he should have gone to a nice middle class person in Edinburgh or somewhere closer to his home (except they all vote SNP).

[dave_mc]

OK, I'm going to dissent from the majority view & say that I think this is a big deal because of what it says about Brown's character:

Firstly, the casual dismissal of one of his own voters (she was a lifelong Labour supporter) as "bigoted" simply because she mentioned immigration

Secondly, the lack of perspective: the encounter he was reacting to had actually gone well.  This wasn't an ambush with some frothing Bufton-Tufton Tory squire berating him, it was a civil conversation that Brown handled easily & competently.  How by any measure was it "a disaster"?

Thirdly, the thin skin & over sensitivity.  A good politician needs a thick skin - even when something has gone disastrously wrong (which this hadn't) - & any good one would have already chalked it up to a job well done & be reading the next briefing paper before the Jag was even in first gear.

Finally, the obvious fear of unscripted contact.  This was the first time on this campaign that Brown has appeared in front of anyone but hand-picked labour supporters.  If he finds such an easy encounter so stressful, what does it say about his suitability to lead the country?

+1

at least you lot get politicians, however corrupt and slimy, to vote for.  over here we just have various flavours of bigot!! and a lot of them manage to be slimy and corrupt while they're at it!  we're voting in the same election as you, but our votes have absolutely no influence on the outcome of the actual gobvernment election.

+ infinity

i'd say clegg for the win, but I can't vote for anyone who would even slightly increase clegg's chance of winning. the only party I can vote for here with even the slightest influence on uk politics is the unionists (who are allied to the tories)- and I would never vote for the tories if i lived in england, scotland or wales, unless it was necessary to keep e.g. the bnp out.

so yeah, before all you guys go complaining about how much your politicians suck (and believe me, I agree with you), spare a thought for people here whose politicians suck even more. we don't even get to vote for political parties based on actual policies, apart from what country we want to remain with or join.

I also thought it was very unfair that the snp and plaid cymru (i hope I've spelt that correctly) didn't get to take part- it's one thing the politicians here not getting to take part, at least the cons, libs and labs aren't standing here. That's surely going to put the snp and PC at a disadvantage. the other smaller english parties should probably also have got to take part too.

[38thBeatle]

I thought it interesting that he referred to the encounter as a disaster ( ie I mean before he used the "b" word) because the encounter didn't seem that taxing to me. I don't agree with nfe though about it being disregarded if it had been Mr Cameron. I think we'd have had Tory toff disses voter i.e we may have had just as much publicity in reverse but from different sources. I think it was very bad form on the part of Mr Brown but I'd have said that about any of them in the same situation.

[Philly Q]

I don't agree with nfe though about it being disregarded if it had been Mr Cameron. I think we'd have had Tory toff disses voter i.e we may have had just as much publicity in reverse but from different sources.

It was a Sky microphone Brown was wearing though, I think they'd have hushed it up.  Sky and the Murdoch empire are very pro-Tory this election.