#Bigotgate needs no introduction. That Brown labelled a voter a bigot behind her back seems to confirm all the public’s worst impressions of the man. He is two faced, which is bad enough, but worse he is scared to stand up for himself when confronted. But that is not all. Even worse for him Brown labelled a woman a bigot because she asked a relatively innocuous question about immigration; well, innocuous by the standards of most discussions on the subject.
On the above hypocrisies Brown is guilty as charged. But frankly speaking Paul has things right, Gordon Brown is a hypocrite, but only as far as any other politician ever has been. There’s no chance Cameron or Clegg haven’t vented at their back room staff after a difficult confrontation; what matters to this news cycle is that Brown was caught.
But there’s no reason to focus on that aspect of this when there’s something all the more revealing that has come to the fore. Focussing on Brown’s initial hypocrisy misses what is actually important.
Brown has worked for 13 years seeing immigration controls tighten. For everyone bar Europeans this country is far harder to enter now than it has been since the 1940s. We have had 5 immigration Acts from this administration, each one more restrictive than the last, asylum claims have sunk massively and are currently running at around 30,000 a year (of which roughly half are rejected either initially or after failing an appeal).
We have detention centres for children like Yarls Wood. Oh sorry, detaining children not tough enough? How about we beat some women too? Worried about Asylum Seekers swamping in? Okay we’ll ban them from working. Fucking scrounging Asylum Seekers, why don’t they get a job? Huh?! Hey look over there! The immigrants are eating swans again. Kick them out!
These are the policies that Brown has announced, backed and funded. This is what people like Gillian Duffy have demanded from 13 years of a Laboir Government.
What is bad is not that Gordon Brown called this woman a bigot. What is fucking disgraceful is that Gordon Brown has been following policies which he himself thought were bigoted. Brown is a bastard because for 13 fucking years he has been promoting policies designed to appeal to those he describes as “bigots” and he knew what he was doing was wrong the entire time.
“Scotsman is grumpy” John Q Publican explains pithily. Of course to an extent he is correct but cynicism can blind you to the bigger issues. The only person who has come close to understanding what Brown did wrong is Thomas Byrne. Brown must deep down agrees with Alex Massie that opening Britain’s borders to Europe was “one of the best, even noble, things this government has done,” it fits our free trading history.
Rather than face up to this he has endorsed policies and soundbites which he admits were “bigoted”. He is damned out of his own mouth.
UPDATE: I’m angry. But I have a feeling Justin is even more angry – Recommended Reading.
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