Cambric

28 April 2010

It's a stitch up.

Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. But in the spirit of a random word whcih is afabric used for needlework, the stitching up link is too good to miss.

'Bigotgate', as it persists in being called despite teasing from The Daily Show, has rumbled on for a bit, despite the "victim" accepting Brown's apology and the growing realisation that the other party leaders have not made hay on this issue because they know that if anyone reported what *they* say about voters after they've got in the car it wouldn't look so good for them either.

What interests me is the idea that the only time Brown forgot his mic was on, he calls a voter "bigoted". Hmm. Brown is clumsy and gauche, but he's not stupid. It's rather tempting to imagine that he's left his microphone on before, but nothing has ever come of it.

This suggests two things - one, that the bigot remark is the worst thing this alleged raging bully has ever said and two, that news companies are effectively eavesdropping on the Prime Minister.

The irony of a Government whose worst sin has been to try and convince the country that it needs to be watched 24/7 to keep it safe being monitored by the media is not lost on me, but what would have happend if Gordon Brown had received a confidential call on a matter of national security or somethign while Sky was listening? Would we be expected to trust that they would not break cover to reveal that they were monitoring Brown's communications? There's something a bit creepy about it.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it doesn't seem unfortunate beyond even Brown's renowned bad luck that this was the only time he has ever left his mic on.

As for Duffy - it's not bigoted to raise the issue of immigration and ask about its impact. But the question "where are all these Eastern Europeans flocking from?" is not only the stupidest you'll hear all year (where the fuck do you think they are flocking from?), but is also a provocative, insensitive one that has nothign to do with genuine concern and everything to do with reflected the mass panic of the right wing media machine. Again, maybe I am unkind - Duffy is clearly not a particularly articulate woman, and there is a difference between being an actual bigot, and being unable to express yourself in a way which avoids that impression. But flocking is one level down from "swamping" in terms of the pejorative language of the immigration debate, and I'm not at all surprised that Brown thought she was bigoted. Indeed he was surprisingly polite. But for a man regarded by many as terribly out of touch, it was yet another demonstration of his complete lack of sensitivity to the PR needs of the modern election campaign. We need to hope that he is made of tougher material than this.