Dorset Girl wrote:Actually, I think it was the language she used that prompted the 'bigot' comment. She said "All these eastern Europeans that are coming in - where are they flocking from?" I think it was the 'flocking' metaphor that made it sound bad, it's kind of 'lazy racism' to use that sort of language and I wouldn't say it reflected too well on her. Besides, she'd answered her own question!
I feel a bit sorry for Brown over this one. Not the cleverest thing he could have said, but everyone has a private and a public face, obviously he couldn't have called her a bigot to her face, so he was expressing his frustration in private (or so he thought!).
Remember when Prince Charles was overheard saying that Andrew Marr was a 'detestable little man' or something? That made me chuckle.
I guess the problem is he's been programmed (as all politicians have) by party PR people to never say publically what's really felt when confronted. It does look two-faced to not just say it to a persons face, but, as BS says, it's
really a shocking discovery to find a politician saying something different in private to what they say in public
Obviously the papers are going to have a field day with it. Funny to see the Daily Express headline on Sky News just now. "A hypocrite who shames Britain" - i'm sure the hypocrisy of that paper throwing such stones is completely lost on them.
Edit: Sky news are so crap it's funny. They pulled away from Clegg answering proper political questions from journalists, as it was obviously too boring and factual for them, to cut to pictures of Gordon Brown walking through a railway station and getting into a car - how exciting! I hope Charlie Brooker does a Newswipe Politics Special.