On Wednesday we were all treated to a graphic demonstration of the hypocrisy of our dearly beloathed Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The news hounds must have been wetting themselves with glee at such a faux pas from the man seeking re-election. Whoops, correction: Gordon Brown was, of course, never elected at all – rather he was handed the job on a silver platter. Whereas we might originally have suspected that his beliefs bore no relation to his statements, it is now abundantly clear that this is the case. What’s that wonderful old epithet
To those who suggest that such a person’s private opinions should remain private I say, “bullshit”. A Prime Minister is (or, rather, should be) elected by the people, is answerable to the people and should listen to the people. Quite clearly a Prime Minister who thinks that a member of the people is a bigot is hardly likely take any notice of that person’s opinion at all. As such we, the people, have every right to be made aware of that position and know that we will be comprehensively ignored.
Doubtless most, if not all, politicians, possess similar characteristics and are simply more careful about showing them openly. How many, for example, have changed party allegiance? Did they suddenly stop believing in one set of policies and start believing in another set? I’d find that difficult to believe. I believe that flavour-of-the-month Nick Clegg switched from Conservative to Liberal Democrat. Could it be that they are just looking for a better route to a better job?
And here we get to my main point: why would anyone bother to believe anything they heard in the three main leaders’ TV debates? Such occasions most closely resemble a job interview; the candidates are naturally going to try to say what they think the interview panel, us, wants to hear. Mr. Brown has proved that he, at least, doesn’t say what he actually thinks. Why would anyone but the most naïve set any store by what they heard? What a waste of effort.
There was another political Mr. G. Brown, George Brown, in Harold Wilson’s cabinet of the late 1960s. Unlike George Brown, button badges were very popular in those days and I had one particular example which seems to be as applicable today as it was then, though you’d need to remember the Hovis bread slogan from the same era to appreciate it fully:
Don’t Say Brown Say Hopeless
If only I still had it.
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