alternatehistory.com

BBC News
28 April 2010



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.​

***

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?
Top