"Bigotted"...

big_southern_jesse

...seems to be a fair way to describe Gillian Duffy.

See BBC here.

I'm not a great supporter of Gordon, and it was a stupid mistake to say anything without double checking the microphones were off, but I see no need for him to go back and apologise. After watching the clips, I think it was a pretty fair comment!

blister pus

She spoke her mind and said what millions think. Good on her.

supersonic

I thought it was hilarious. And I do believe many might just support old Gordon on this.

big_southern_jesse

Yep, she spoke her mind, he spoke his, I don't feel either have to apologise. However, you do get to judge them on their comments...

Anonymous

she sounds like a biggot to me.

supersonic

Be funny if all the MPs said what they thought back on the vomit inducing PR trips.

'Well, I think you are a scum bag and secretly I would have you shot'

thekickingmule

How can she be a bigot? She's saying she's a Labour supporter, and that she's struggling to see how she can vote for them again. She wanted reassurance that the government she had voted for for the last X number of years would be the right choice for her. If she was speaking to Cameron or Clegg, then yes she could be classed as a bigot, but to Brown, no, she spoke her mind and he clearly can't handle the public, which for a Prime Minister, is a problem.

Raymondavalon

Question anything to do with immigration, religion or cultural differences and you'll be labeled a bigot
Sadly we have to tiptoe around over sensitised issues and not speak our minds.

Loving Brown though, that guy is a buffoon of note. He still has another foot to shoot.. go ahead you one eyed, Scottish idiot, make my day

Briggo

Anyone see the video clip of him when he was in the Radio2 interview and they play the clip back to him, first time he's made aware he was taped...

He holds his head in shame and disbelief, it was classic.

Tel39

Well if Gillian Duffy is a bigot then so am I, and most of my family and friends and work colleagues etc etc..... Poor choice of words by old Gordy..... Though I think she was just saying what a lot of the population thinks anyway

bails87

She complained about immigration. Would be interesting to know what she said. Seeing as time and time again it has been proven that immigrants are a net contributor to the public purse, that they aren't necessarily any more 'criminal' than the general population and they don't get any preferential treatment with regards to social housing or jobs, I'd like to know what exactly she was complaining about.

Or is she one of those people who say blatantly untrue, racist things and then complain that they can't even 'speak the truth'.

I think GB should just have stuck to his guns, he would have looked better. If he'd just said "she said X, Y and Z, which are untrue and bigotted, so I'm not going to apologise" people would have more respect for him I reckon.

bails87

Tel39
Any idea what she said?

and look: Brown does care about bigoted old hags!

bails87

So do we know what she said? Or are we assuming that because GB said she was a bigot, she can't be a bigot?

BlackSpur

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/28/gordon-brown-gillian-duffy-transcript

bails87

BlackSpur
Cheers

After playing a recording of Brown's comments

Vine: Is she not allowed to express her views?

Isn't GB allowed to express his views?

It seems like she was moaning about "all these Eastern Europeans what are coming in". What's the problem. Is the problem that they're foreign? If her problem with them is that they're foreign then that's bigoted isn't it?

If she'd made a valid point then maybe she wouldn't have elicited the response she did.

BlackSpur

Brown's point was valid, he's just an idiot for having let himself get caught out like he did

bails87

BlackSpur wrote:

Brown's point was valid, he's just an idiot for having let himself get caught out like he did

Totally agree.

Also:

blister pus

bails87 wrote:

She complained about immigration. Would be interesting to know what she said. Seeing as time and time again it has been proven that immigrants are a net contributor to the public purse, that they aren't necessarily any more 'criminal' than the general population and they don't get any preferential treatment with regards to social housing or jobs, I'd like to know what exactly she was complaining about.

Or is she one of those people who say blatantly untrue, racist things and then complain that they can't even 'speak the truth'.

Not that you'd understand because you genuinely aren't old enough. But it's about the massive dilution of the indigenous population for cheap political and economic expediency that took place under new labour. which was a deliberate policy by new labour when it came into power. In it's infinite wisdom it decided it wanted to level things out a little by creating a counter balance to the predominantly white middle class home counties power base the tories used for years. they wanted a more 'diverse' 'multi-cultural flavour' to the populace, which would also be less inclined to vote for white upper middle class old etonians. Which at the time I actually agreed with - but fuck me. did it ever go too far.

I've felt the level of resentment from indigenous white working class people from all political divides for a while now and it's pretty venomous and scary, and justified in a lot of cases. Gordon Browns classic case of blithe dismissive arrogance is exactly why they're up sh!t creek at the moment.

Bigoted has fuck all to do with it. The old dear knows exactly what went on because she saw it unfold, like I did, like many did. It's just a mouthful to articulate on telly.

bails87 wrote:

I think GB should just have stuck to his guns, he would have looked better. If he'd just said "she said X, Y and Z, which are untrue and bigotted, so I'm not going to apologise" people would have more respect for him I reckon.

He went back because that's the core Labour voter they need.

Tel39

^^^^^^^^ Couldn't have put it better myself

bails87

The document 'admitting' that immigration was a plot to get Labour votes was nothing of the sort and was actually very badly/falsely reported by the (pro-Tory) press.

Maybe I haven't seen the 'dilution' of proper Britishness, whatever that means, but I like today's Britain, for the most part. I live in a multicultural part of the country, have friends from a range of backgrounds and went to a very 'international' uni (including living in the most 'immigrant heavy' part of the city I was in). I'm not a sheltered rich white liberal taking pity on 'foreigners' without ever having lived in an area where they actually live.

I think the resentment comes from the misinformation that paints immigrants as the enemy all the time to be honest. Lies get repeated so much that they become believed.

Raymondavalon

blister pus

Well put and also valid point on younger Members not quite seeing the bigger picture that is so often hidden when a fresh election comes up

thekickingmule

bails87 wrote:

So do we know what she said? Or are we assuming that because GB said she was a bigot, she can't be a bigot?

Listen to the entire thing, rather than just that little bit and you'll realise that she doesn't quite finish her sentence. She's basically got a thousand questions she wants answering and is stumbling through them to get as many answers before he leaves.

blister pus

bails87 wrote:

The document 'admitting' that immigration was a plot to get Labour votes was nothing of the sort and was actually very badly/falsely reported by the (pro-Tory) press.

Actually that was very true and is common knowledge certainly within labour ranks I used to knock about. I was around at the time, I watched what happened. Like I said, I agreed with it and agreed with it for the very reason it was initially done. The tory press certainly milked it but the facts and stats on immigration levels pre and post new labour speak for themselves. And people over a certain age remember the old thatcherite tories kept a sharp eye on immigration. they were actually quite good at it in hindsight. I'll come back to the other bits later.

Northwind

thekickingmule wrote:

How can she be a bigot? She's saying she's a Labour supporter, and that she's struggling to see how she can vote for them again. She wanted reassurance that the government she had voted for for the last X number of years would be the right choice for her. If she was speaking to Cameron or Clegg, then yes she could be classed as a bigot, but to Brown, no

Not being funny here but do you actually know what it means and what she said? Why would it make any difference who she was talking to?

When you see what she actually said, she comes across as a rude, gibbering idiot tbh. "How will you get us out of debt?" He starts to answer, she interrupts before he can finish with "Childcare, education, looking after the vulnerable" then when he tries to answer that she interrupts, again, with another total swerve to benefit scroungers, and he's not even one line into answering that one when she suddenly blames it all on immigrants.

"all these Eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?"

Eastern europe possibly. Just a guess. Course, the number of eastern european immigrants has fallen hugely but who cares? It's still their fault, whatever it is she's talking about.

bails87

Northwind
Agree completely. Someone can be supporting your party but stil;l be a bigot. It's like saying "I'm going to vote for you.....because you're not black". While the first half of that sentence is good for a politicain, doesn't stop it being a bigotted view.


Raymondavalon
What is the bigger picture?

And just as a general point, why are people so fussed about immigration? Other than the newspaper lies about immigrants devouring swans and being given billion pound council houses.

MacAndCheese

Brown's an idiot for doing that, and I'm not a fan of him but...

She's an idiot! It really annoys me when idiots like that interrupt the answer to the question they asked, it's like they don't want the answer, they just want to be seen asking the question for some kind of kudos. Also people who think you can just swan over here and start claiming this that and the other are wrong. My brother's fiancee is Canadian is it's a bloody long and expensive process for her to get entilled to anything from the state (not that she wanted alot, she works and they have brought their own house) She had to go to interviews with immigration and also now it does not matter if you get married or not. You could argue that she's taken somone's job (not quite sure how anyone has a right to a job, but anyhow) but that brings me to my second case - the first guy to give me a job out of uni was a self made Indian immigrant and a nice guy - god damn him for coming over here, working hard enough to start a company and then give me a job!

xstrathyx

+ potato

bails87 wrote:

She complained about immigration. Would be interesting to know what she said. Seeing as time and time again it has been proven that immigrants are a net contributor to the public purse, that they aren't necessarily any more 'criminal' than the general population and they don't get any preferential treatment with regards to social housing or jobs, I'd like to know what exactly she was complaining about.

Or is she one of those people who say blatantly untrue, racist things and then complain that they can't even 'speak the truth'.

I think GB should just have stuck to his guns, he would have looked better. If he'd just said "she said X, Y and Z, which are untrue and bigotted, so I'm not going to apologise" people would have more respect for him I reckon.

bails87

You can't talk about immigration......apparently.

supersonic

Should Sky have broadcast it?

They always would, but wheter they should I am not too sure.

Anonymous

i suppose this is one of those "power of the press" things i had previously claimed didnt exist, i can now see how a situation has been spun and could possibly have an adverse effect on the country. mind you, it still requires folk to be stoopid enough to believe it without finding out all sides of the story.

"all these Eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?"

what a mong, i wonder what direct effect some eastern europeans hve had on her life. as we all know, im only interested in direct effects, anything else is pure hippyness.

supersonic

There were maybe other things she said that could have been perceived as bigoted too: need to look at the whole transcript.