Dear Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left.
Signed, Liam Byrne

(Outgoing Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury. May 2010)
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Wednesday 28 April 2010

Reasons not to vote Labour #10 (bigoted)

He told an aide: "That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous..."

Asked what she had said, he replied: "Everything, she was just a bigoted woman."
Quoting Mr Brown after speaking to a real member of the public in Rochdale.

Mr Brown had forgotten he had a microphone attached to his lapel, so his words were recorded for the benefit of Sky News.

..........

P.S.
Thanks to Uncle Marvo and his link Mrs R can share this little video with you, which she first found in this page on the Times - which has further details of the incident and also notes that Mrs Gillian Duffy's postal vote,
- which was for Labour, and which was sitting in an envelope in her hall - would not now be posted, she added.
The video is from Sky News which has a full article here

This is Mr Brown being pleasant to Mrs Duffy, and then getting into his car where he shows his true feelings - and suggests he was set up.



And this is Mrs Duffy afterwards.



Mrs Duffy wanted to know about the economy, and she wanted to know why her pension is being taxed, she also wanted to know about immigration and crime and sentencing.

She said to the reporters that she didn't know why Mr Brown had bothered to go to Rochdale to see 'young offenders' (presumably they're in the background clearing a footpath). She didn't seem to understand why none of the locals had known he would be in the area, and had only spotted him by chance because of the Police cordon.

This little incident says such a lot. It shows how, in constantly pandering to 'minorities' of all shape and form, the machinations of Labour government have taken their party a million miles away from those it claims to represent.

Mrs Duffy isn't unique, she's just the same as most people of her background. The salt of the earth, honest, loyal, law abiding and intrinsically decent. There are many people like Mrs Duffy within Mrs R's wider family, which is why she feels so much sympathy for her.

Labour has allowed itself to become totally detached from decent, ordinary people. People, who take pride in their appearance, who speak properly and who always behave properly. Maybe Mr Brown doesn't realise that there are thousands and thousands of Mrs Duffys in Britain - these people are hurt and confused by the way things are going in this country, because they trust politicians to treat them decently.

Mr Brown's behaviour today is just a small example of the ongoing betrayal - where he says one thing to your face, and despises you, and treats you with derision and contempt the rest of the time.

Oh, and Mrs R thinks it's also worth noting three further things.

Mr Brown complained that
"They have chosen to play my private conversation with the person who was in the car with me,"
He later, apparently, telephoned Mrs Duffy - so presumably he wasn't too bothered about getting access to her telephone number and talking to her when she was at home. Maybe she was on her own - did he care?

At no time was Mrs Duffy rude, she wanted to get away from the reporters but they kept on asking her questions. She maintained her dignity throughout, although she was clearly very upset.

Mr Brown could learn some serious lessons from her behaviour and her use of language.
"He is an educated person, why did he come out with words like that?" she said.

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P.P.S.
Here's the full transcript, from the Times

and a picture, from the Telegraph - after hearing the tape whilst on the Jeremy Vine Show.


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2 comments:

Macheath said...

For me, the most telling aspect of the whole affair is Brown saying 'they have chosen to play my private conversation'.

It appears he sees nothing intrinsically wrong in holding the opinion he expressed; he is simply apologising for saying it where he could be overheard. 'Derision and contempt' sums it up beautifully.

Mrs Rigby said...

He was caught out and didn't like it. His immediate response is more telling than any later 'apologies' he might have had to make.