Who feels sorry for Gordon???

"I feel very sorry for him, it was a daft mistake. The pressure he must be under at the moment."

I cannot believe that people are making comments like this. He is the Prime Minister. He has his finger on the Big Red Button. He makes life and death decisions. He is supposed to represent us on the world stage.
If he is going to crumble over some barracking from a harmless nobody then god help us all.

GRANNY Brown could not have answered her question in any other way, there is not a limit to the number of people who can come here from within the EU. 28 countries belong inside the EU, and 8 more are waiting to join, total (pop. 157 million), even if a fraction arrive and Claig gives his Amnesty it will mean millions more people on these shores. Mrs. Duffy will really find out then, and the people of Rochdale will certainly not "like it up em".

QS" why do you think most labour party core voters are bigots, and associate themselves with bigotry?" It was not me that said this it was Gordon Brown! Maybe ask him why he considers his own life long supporters to be bigots.

I personally welcome 'foreign' incomers to my area/village on a 'variety is the spice of life' basis. I have, however, never had to face up to being 'swamped' by another culture becoming predominant in what I consider to be my home area. A bigot is someone who unreasonably labels people they do not know, according to their percieved ethnic, religious or racial characteristics. I do not think the term 'bigot' can be applied so readily to people who have seen their way of life seriously eroded by real, day to day, changes in their area, that leave them feeling that they are now in a minority.

I feel very sorry for him, it was a daft mistake. The pressure he must be under at the moment.

Smallwhitecat How true.

CLAIG Well said! could not have put it better myself, but if I were the woman . I would have said " you know Gordon you can't stop mass immmigraation can you?, because most of it comes from within the EU" "Well can you?" to which his reply should have been "No" especially as she was speaking about Eastern Eurpean people. Instead, this poor old dear ( a labour supporter all her life) thought that by speaking to that nice Gordon it would mean an iota of difference! Brown's a two-faced old shite, asking about her grandchildren and their education, and in the car, really expressing how she got up his nose!

I don't think Mrs Duffy was being a bigot, her wording was not all that PC but she asked honest questions.

I do feel very very sorry for Gordon Brown though (and no I'm not going to vote for him)

I feel sorry for him - eek if anyone heard what I say about them sometimes after they've been in with me at work (and anyone who spends all day with the public - it is hard to be nice all the time and a wee vent is inevitable)

Same here OtterinaSkoda.

I feel sorry for him, and for her too tbh. She was so upset and shocked when Sky played the tape to her.

I think her comment was bigoted.

And I don't vote labour, tory or lib dem.

I dont care for bigots or party ringleaders, i always vote, but i just dont know what to do this time!!! any sum-ups for me?

btw. Of course her concerns aren't justified - in no way are they justified - but as PM you have to engage, argue, persuade - not just expect to shake the hands of handpicked voters. If you don't engage and persuade, you're handing it to the BNP.

My first reaction when I saw the headlines yesterday was "?? - stuff happens." After I listened to the actual sound clip, though, with the "who let this woman NEAR me? You should have kept her AWAY from me!" stuff, I totally changed my mind. You don't reduce bigotry by wanting these people kept away from you, if you're a politician. Sure, I wouldn't want a hardened BNP activist near me, but Mrs Duffy? got to talk to her, not threaten my aides as to what a disaster it was that she was ever allowed close.

Andrew Rawnsley has it best in his Guardian article today, I think.

So the real Gordon Brown doesn't like people who express bigotted remarks and this is supposed to turn us against him? As for him being two-faced, I've often had to do or say things at work that I didn't agree with or be nice to customers I didn't like, but it was my job and I was representing the company. (Guess who I'm voting for - go GB!)

Or was it all a sneaky ploy to get the immigrant vote?

My reacton was a combination of "Oh Gordon you dozey arse" and "Oh Gordon you poor sod".

It wasn't the fact he called her a bigot or the fact that he said one thing in public and another in private that got me (it was supposed to be private after all), it was that he was so damn rude to his aides. He came across as a thoroughly arrogant and unpleasant man.

Agreed. I like that in private, when he thinks no-one is listening, he is very clearly not a racist and does not approve of closed-mindedness. In prvate, I also think comments about "foreigners flooding in" etc are bigoted.

I do.

He made a comment in private. It got out, or as I read, was played to the lady by a member of the media. He apologises.

Why is it at the start of the news headlines today? AAGH! This is what I hate about politics. It's all about putting the other sides down and the media whipping everything up into a frenzy.

I wasn't going to vote for labour before and still won't, but I like that he is clearly not a racist.

His discussion in the car seemed to be over the fact that the media would report her attack on him despite being a strong labour supporter. Thus his whole day of campaigning was wasted becasue that one thing is what he thought would be reported on the news that night...
His reference to her as a bigot was very much explanatory in that context and in no way can it be seen as his considered reflection on the lady's moral character.
So I do feel very sorry for Gordon, I think Sky were disgusting to make political capital at her expense. I don't think she is a bigot as such and I would say Gordon was very genuinely sorry (like with that soldier and the letter) that she was forced into the media spotlight. He did seem like a grumpy old bear but so what?
But I'll be voting Lib Dem as before...

I feel sorry for him - I am also a Tory voter.

So what if he said she was bigoted. He said it in private and its really not that bad. It wasn't an irrational rant or a very unkind comment.

I also hate the whole "personality politics" thing and the fact that the whole electoral race has been sooo dumbed down. As much as I would never ever vote Labour, Gordon Brown is, I think, probably the cleverest of the 3 potential PMs. He was a good chancellor I suppose, and he was certainly up to that job.

I am a tax layer in the City and there are, I am afraid, very few politians who grasp the compexities of the fiscal aspects of their job. Gordon Brown does.

That said, I can't bear so many of the other Labour MPs and the Labour policies that Gordon alone doesn't sway it for me.

Long post but yes, in many many ways I feel very sorry for him.

Hmm, I'm not sure, he hasn't been in the media today or yesterday, I think DC is prepping to try and absolutely nail this debate, and judging by his PMQ style, it more playground taunts then policy. He will try to stir brown until he loses his temper, then sit back and watch the fireworks!

Unlike Gordon Bennett, I don't think Mrs. Duffy was a bigot. Apparently even he now claims he misundersttod her and thinks she is not a bigot. Mrs Duffy is a core voter and calling her a bigot is fatal. Calling your core voters bigots is a losing strategy. I didn't say that most Labour core voters are bigots, I said that calling core voters,such as Mrs. Duffy, a bigot, spells disaster.

I'm afraid it is odd that you are reading into it that I thought that most Labour core voters are bigots. Mrs. Duffy is the salt of the earth core Labour voter and it is disgraceful that GBH called her a bigot. His advisers have told him this, and he now realises it also.

SeaShellsOnTheSeaShore,
I wouldn't worry about the debate tonight. I think Cameron may not even mention the Duffy episode. He has already failed to score many open goals, I think he will fail to score this one as well. I don't think he wants an outright majority. I think he would prefer a hung parliament, so that the Tories can't take the blame for what is to come.

why do you think most labour party core voters are bigots, and associate themselves with bigotry?

I find that odd.