LeftWatch

The rolling news media are not going to drop the story about Gordon Brown calling a Rochdale voter, Gillian Duffy, "bigoted", and the front pages tomorrow are liable to be devastating for Labour.

Here are my thoughts on the incident and what it tells us about the man seeking to be elected Prime Minister by the British people for the first time.

Brown's contempt for voters
Mrs Duffy had concerns about a number of issues which echo those of millions of ordinary people in the country. That Brown showed such contempt for her suggests that he holds millions of the rest of the electorate in contempt as well.

Brown's duplicity
It showed Brown up as a duplicitous person, saying one thing in public and another in private. This is a point that Tory Rascal's poster picks up: Brown said she came from a good family and how lovely it was to meet her a few seconds before condemning her as bigoted in private. If he meets any other ordinary voters in the remaining week of the campaign, will they be able to believe his small talk?

Brown's tendency to blame others
What was striking was that in his remarks caught on the microphone he sought to blame one of his assistants for allowing him to meet Mrs Duffy in the first place; then in his Jeremy Vine interview afterwards, he tried to shift the blame onto the media for having him wear the microphone in the first place, for not letting him answer a question and then for broadcasting the private conversation. The media have since said been quoted as saying that Brown's aides asked for him to wear the microphone as the big boom microphones are a distraction. Meanwhile, watching the video again, I cannot see how he was stopped from answering any of the questions.

Brown's lack of media savvy
I thought that the John Major infamous "bastards" interview with Michael Brunson had been instructive to any politician about the need to be wary when wearing a microphone. I noted the other evening when watching the coverage of the post-debate spin room that David Miliband was holding his hand over the microphone on his jacket to ensure that his private conversation with a fellow Labour insider was not picked up.

Gordon Brown just being out of touch
As much as anything, I found it incredibly revealing that Brown first remark on getting into the car was that the encounter with Mrs Duffy was "a disaster". To be frank, it wasn't. She aired a few concerns, but it ended on a positive and consensual note. This was no Sharon Storer moment (the woman confronted by Blair in 2001 outside a Birmingham hospital) - until, ironically, Brown turned it into one by his unguarded reaction to it. That Brown thought it a disaster suggests he is even more on edge and living in a parallel universe than I thought.

Jonathan Isaby

Gordon Brown has met precious few real voters during the course of the campaign - as David Cameron has been saying, the PM has been going from "safe house to safe house", only meeting Labour Party activists.

And today we got a glimpse of what happens when he does meet a real person who deigns to disagree with him.

A woman in Rochdale - who had always voted Labour before - engaged with him on a number of issues this morning and according to Channel Four News, this is what his microphone picked him up saying on getting back into his car:  

"You should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Sue's I think. Everything she said - she's just a bigoted woman."

I suspect we can safely conclude she is now a former Labour voter.

I am still trying to track down the video/audio footage but will post it as and when it appears.

12.30pm update:

The woman, Gillian Duffy, has been tracked down by the BBC and Sky News, both of which have been running a live interview with her in their rolling new channels. She has confirmed she will not be voting Labour now and has said she is upset by what he said. She has said that she wants an apology from Brown and an explanation of why he thought she was a bigot.

12.40pm update:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL ENCOUNTER 

1pm update:

Brown had the tape played back to him while appearing live on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 and said he the media hadn't given him a chance to answer her question about immigration, adding that by having the microphone on he thought he was being helpful to the broadcasters, clearly angry that his "private conversation" had been broadcast. He did apologise for his remark.

Tory Rascal has produced this take on the incident:

 

1.30pm update:

Downing Street has confirmed that Brown has telephoned Mrs Duffy to apologise for his remarks, with a spokesman saying:

"He does not think that she is bigoted. He was letting off steam in the car after a difficult conversation. But this is exactly the sort of conversation that is important in an election campaign and which he will continue to have with voters."

3.15pm update:

Brown has returned to Rochdale to apologise to Mrs Duffy in person. Before we get reaction after the meeting, here are other relevant links:

> Brown is duplicitous, contemptuous of the public and always seeking to blame others for his mistakes - what the Gillian Duffy incident tells us

> WATCH: Gillian Duffy's reaction on being told Gordon Brown called her "bigoted"

> WATCH/LISTEN: Gordon Brown's radio apology to Gillian Duffy (including video footage of him listening to the tape of his remarks)

3.45pm update:

After nearly 45 minutes insider her house, Brown emerges and says that she has accepted her apology and that he is a "penitent sinner" who has apologised for what he said. He said he had misunderstood what she said to him this morning and that sometimes you say things you don't mean.

4.30pm update:

Channel Four News have provided a full transcript of the original encounter and here is the text of his apology outside Mrs Duffy's house (courtesy of Andrew Sparrow's Guardian blog):

"I've just been talking to Gillian. I'm mortified by what's happened. I've given her my sincere apologies. I misunderstood what she said, and she has accepted there was a misunderstanding and has accepted my apology. If you like, I'm a repentant sinner. Sometimes you say things you don't mean to say, sometimes you say things by mistake and sometimes you say things you want to correct very quickly.

"So I wanted to come here and say that I made a mistake but to also to say I understood the concerns she was bringing to me and I simply misunderstood some of the words she used. I made my apology.

"I've come here – it's been a chance to talk to Gillian about her family, her relatives and her own history and what she has done, but most of all it's been a chance to apologise and say sorry, and to say sometimes you do make mistakes and you use the wrong words and once you've used the wrong word and made a mistake you should withdraw it and say profound apologies and that's what I've done."

5pm update:

> WATCH Gordon Brown making the above statement outside Mrs Duffy's house

6.15pm update:

Brown has just emailed the following apology to Labour Party members (hat tip: James Forsyth):

As you may know, I have apologised to Mrs Duffy for remarks I made in the back of the car after meeting her on the campaign trail in Rochdale today. I would also like to apologise to you.

I know how hard you all work to fight for me and the Labour Party, and to ensure we get our case over to the public. So when the mistake I made today has so dominated the news, doubtless with some impact on your own campaigning activities, I want you to know I doubly appreciate the efforts you make.

Many of you know me personally. You know I have strengths as well as weaknesses. We all do. You also know that sometimes we say and do things we regret. I profoundly regret what I said this morning.

I am under no illusions as to how much scorn some in the media will want to heap upon me in the days ahead.

But you, like I, know what is at stake in the days ahead and so we must redouble our campaigning efforts to stop Britain returning to a Tory Party that would do so much damage to our economy, our society and our schools and NHS, not least in places like Rochdale.

The worst thing about today is the hurt I caused to Mrs Duffy, the kind of person I came into politics to serve. It is those people I will have in my mind as I look ahead to the rest of the campaign.

You will have seen me in one context on the TV today. I hope tomorrow you see once more someone not just proud to be your leader, but also someone who understands the economic challenges we face, how to meet them, and how that improves the lives of ordinary families all around Britain.

Regards,

Gordon

Jonathan Isaby