A Very Different Bigotgate

BBC News
28 April 2010

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BREAKING - The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has told reporters he stands by his comments to Mrs Gillian Duffy made earlier today. During an exchange discussing the upcoming election, Mrs Duffy made the remark "You can't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're … but all these eastern European what are coming in, where are they flocking from?". Mr Brown, causing visible tension in his nearby aides, instantly replied that "in my opinion that is a very bigoted thing to say."

Mrs Duffy immediately asked why, and Mr Brown made clear that the answer to Britain's immigration debate did not lie in sweeping statements like "eastern Euopreans flocking in" or in "ignoring the facts". In a prepared statement issued a few minutes ago and an hour or so after saying a civil goodbye to Mrs Duffy, Mr Brown said he stands by his remarks and hopes they will make clear his government's stance on the immigration debate. "It is not for government ministers to acquiesce to the lies and exaggerations put about by extremist elements of our society. Where we encounter such lies, we will confront them and expose them. I understand that Mrs Duffy was offended by my abrupt manner, and for that I truly apologise. My irritation was directed not at her, but at those who have tried to mislead her and the rest of the electorate on the immigration debate. I do not consider her, as some have said, a bigoted person, but I do not think there can be any doubt that the remarks she made were bigoted in their own right."

Cabinet colleagues were quick to support Mr Brown, with Immigration Minister Phil Woolas applauding the decision to "not give in anymore" to the "lies of the BNP". A few minutes ago the Schools Minister Ed Balls called Mr Brown's comments "typical of the Prime Minister's commitment to fairness and debate, and also his support for the anti-fascist movement across the UK". The former leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage was more damning, saying "this government has once again demonstrated its contempt for the common voter. Try and have a debate on immigration and they call you a bigot. We in UKIP are the only party that understands Mrs Duffy's concerns without resorting to violence or extremism, and with that in mind we invite her and any who feel as she does to vote for us on the 6th."

No comment has yet been received from the Conservative Party or Liberal Democrats.​

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So what next?

I've already for two TLs on the go so, despite appearances, this is not the beginning of one. However I would like to see what people think would happen next. I think the Labour and UKIP responses are about right, but have deliberately left out Lib Dem and Tory reactions to see what people think.

The way I see it, Cameron and Clegg have to come out and side with Brown or risk falling on the bigoted side of the debate. Such a move by Brown, though it may have required ASB levels of quick-thinking and foresight (the likes of which we haven't seen from Brown since the 1990s, but you never know) would have almost certainly IMO have improved his own standing rather than decreased it. Disillusioned Labour voters who are scared of immigration are going to be split 50/50 into the group that side with Farage and the group that think it's right that the debate be conducted in the open and without 'BNP lies'.

So, the questions:

1) Immediate impact. Who responds, and how?
2) Medium-term impact. How does this affect the last debate or the final weeks of the campaign?
3) Polling Day. Do Labour do better, or only slightly less badly? No change at all? Is there something Cameron or Clegg can do to hit back at Brown and capitalise more on this than he has done?
 
I think Labour still won't win a fourth term but Brown may stay in charge. Normally my family and friends get pissed at Bigotgate because it seemed that Labour just assumed that we should agree with the policy and they should say why and if we do ask then we are somehow are bigoted or isolationist if we weren't but here Brown is saying why and explaining Labours stance and why.

I'm thinking of a TL where Brown makes a few less mistakes and in return gains Labour a fourth term with a coalition with the LibDems.
 
If Brown was quicker off the mark it would have been a none story and the press would have ignored it, and instead picked up on some other gaffe. The media narrative was very much anti-Brown at this point, and he, by the sound of it, was incredibly stressed.
 
If Brown was quicker off the mark it would have been a none story and the press would have ignored it, and instead picked up on some other gaffe. The media narrative was very much anti-Brown at this point, and he, by the sound of it, was incredibly stressed.

I agree, it's not going to do much to alter the media narrative of him (for instance, how many times did you hear feedback on what was generally regarded as the best speech of the campaign, the one at the Citizens UK event?) but it could be enough to tip a few marginal Con-Lab seats the other way if the Liberal voters decide to stick with Labour. I can see this event playing to Brown's strengths with the urban professional voter but working against some of the working class demographic.

Hehe, I wonder if it would be enough to cause Balls to lose his seat?

:D
 
I agree, it's not going to do much to alter the media narrative of him (for instance, how many times did you hear feedback on what was generally regarded as the best speech of the campaign, the one at the Citizens UK event?) but it could be enough to tip a few marginal Con-Lab seats the other way if the Liberal voters decide to stick with Labour. I can see this event playing to Brown's strengths with the urban professional voter but working against some of the working class demographic.

Hehe, I wonder if it would be enough to cause Balls to lose his seat?

:D

You're right about the Citizens UK speech. It was the only speech of the campaign that actually sounded inspirational or meaningful, but because the media had already decided they wanted to be pally with the new boss, they hardly touched on it.

Any thoughts on how the Tories and Lib Dems would have responded?
 
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