R Soul on 29/4/2010 at 13:05
Quote Posted by Tainted
she is a bigot.
Quote Posted by Zygoptera
(yeah, she was)
No she isn't.
Matthew on 29/4/2010 at 13:27
Quote Posted by TheCapedPillager
I don't give a shit about some offhand private comment that isn't relevant to the policies ... Try keep things in perspective, that's all I'm saying.
I'd like to think I am, actually. However, I think that the juxtaposition of what Gordon said right before getting into the car and what was then said right afterwards gives a measure of insight into the man.
Scots Taffer on 29/4/2010 at 15:07
I see where you're coming from Matthew, but I'd say less a measure of the man and more a measure of the game. It is what it is, and those who play in it are the same.
Matthew on 29/4/2010 at 15:18
Almost certainly! :p But at least most are smart enough to switch off the mike first.
Eh, it's a small thing in the grand scheme, but to be honest I see it more as indicative of the greater trend of the Labour campaign than as a significant issue in itself, if that makes sense.
Scots Taffer on 29/4/2010 at 15:24
I know what you mean. I see it as a sad indictment of what UK politics has become, and Labour are more to blame for that than anyone else.
Brian The Dog on 29/4/2010 at 15:25
He missed a trick by not proclaiming that he was giving a lift to Rory Bremner at the time, and they blamed the wrong guy!
This is eerily reminiscent of Sir Humphrey's faux pas in Yes (Prime?) Minister, where he describes benefit claimers as parasites live on air. Hacker's advice to him? "Always treat a mike as an open mike".
Edit - sadly, this episode may spell the end of Party Leader campaigning directly with the public in the long-run, since they'll see it as too risky. Dunno if it'll really end like that, but it would be sad if it did. Things like this and Prescott's punch last time round make it much more interesting.
Tainted on 29/4/2010 at 16:34
Actually after reading the transcript I take back what i said. Her comment about Eastern Europeans flocking in was a bit inelegant but overall I was a bit unfair to say she was a bigot.
quinch on 29/4/2010 at 16:57
Stop flip-flopping. She's a bigot.
If you want to talk about immigration then talk about immigration. What have Eastern Europeans got to do with it?
EDIT: Although I should add that I don't really hold this against her. She probably was just wanting to talk about immigration and her generation weren't taught the "arts" of political correctness.
R Soul on 29/4/2010 at 18:38
Quote Posted by quinch
What have Eastern Europeans got to do with it?.
Maybe most of the immigrants in the area are from eastern Europe. So what if she doesn't use the approved word.
Zygoptera on 29/4/2010 at 23:36
It is bigotry. If she'd made the identification by skin colour "all these blacks that are coming in" or by a different, non european, geographic location "all these africans/ chinese that are coming in" or by religion "all these muslims that are coming in" would there really be any question about it? Just because she identified eastern europeans instead of blacks does not make it suddenly not bigoted.
But it certainly isn't capital B(NP) bigotry and she did not deserve to be publically labeled. Pretty much everyone says stuff like that on occasion and don't really mean much by it.
