# BritDopers (and nosy foreigners) - The general election 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133 "2010-04-06T11:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/361 "2010-04-28T19:46:58Z")
My first though was ‘well, is she a bigot?’ I agree that he may have seemed like less of a wuss if he’d stuck up for himself a bit. We’ve known about his public/private mood shifts for some time, it’s obvious with how forced his smile looks (some PR guru evidently told him to smile more), when the cameras were off he reverted instantly to a dour face. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/362 "2010-04-28T20:17:59Z")
If she was a bigot then he should have stood up to her. However, there is no reason to believe from the statements that she made that she was a bigot. Certainly what she said about immigration is consistent with Brown’s stated stance on immigration. And if no one noticed another Labour candidate hit a roundabout, pissed (must have been as police took a blood sample; they only do that if breath alcohol is over the limit, but not massively so)… Not to mention John Cowan a day or two ago. Brilliant. The utter destruction of the Labour party may be upon us 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/363 "2010-04-28T20:38:02Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > …Not to mention John Cowan a day or two ago… You must mean this: [Labour candidate John Cowan suspended over online messages | The Independent | The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-candidate-john-cowan-suspended-over-online-messages-1954707.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/364 "2010-04-28T23:34:20Z")
Gordon Brown seems to be stumbling from one disaster to another. Lord knows what the other two will make of it in the debate on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/365 "2010-04-29T11:00:28Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Reckon he could have pulled this one out if he’d stood his ground. > > \*I’d like to apologise to Mrs Duffy for what was an offensive and ill-judged remark, made on the spur of the moment. However, I should state that I in turn found her comments offensive, narrow-minded and illustrative of a damaging mindset that is dividing working class communities up and down this country. I’ve fought against racism all of my working life as a politician, and I won’t tacitly accept this type of divisive talk from anyone. > > In these times of economic hardship, what Britain needs is for our bedrock communities to pull together etc etc…\* > > Instead he made a grovelling apology and made an even bigger cunt of himself than God intended. Except for the god bit I agree completely. He would have earned more respect by saying “I stand by my earlier remarks” instead he wussed out. One more nail in the coffin of the Labour government. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/366 "2010-04-29T11:14:30Z")
For me, it’s just a further indication of the scummy, parasitic behaviour of the so-called “news” providers. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/367 "2010-04-29T11:17:18Z")
I agree; it was highly unethical to continue recording him when he had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and that’s not even mentioning passing it on and making a story of it. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/368 "2010-04-29T11:21:39Z")
Exactly. It seems that had Brown commented on what a lovely lady she was, they would have then been crying out, “But, but…the woman was an out and out bigot!” ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/369 "2010-04-29T12:51:05Z")
You would think though that he would have had an aide who would have pointed out the fact that he was still wearing a microphone. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/370 "2010-04-29T13:04:00Z")
Brown does seem to have been let down by his aides. It should be somebody’s job to take care of these mics once they are no longer needed. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/371 "2010-04-29T13:56:36Z")
I want my reporters to report, not create news stories. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/372 "2010-04-29T15:41:12Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I want my reporters to report, not create news stories. You really think that distinction is possible, or even meaningful? Heisenberg’s Uncertainly Principle – that the observer changes the thing observed by observing it – applies with even more force in human social life than at the subatomic level. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/373 "2010-04-29T16:05:50Z")
Which is why, in my opinion, it’s even more important to pay strict attention to journalistic ethics (in theory – obviously with Murdoch properties it’s a lost cause). ---
**Author:** ![ivan732](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aeb1de/32.png) [@ivan732](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan732)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/374 "2010-04-29T16:22:28Z")
I’m not sure that BBC News or ITN would have behaved any differently. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/375 "2010-04-29T16:58:13Z")
The Associated Press on Brown’s travails and Clegg’s rise: [News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com](http://www.aolnews.com/story/uks-brown-seeks-redemption-at-debate/838988?cid=13) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/376 "2010-04-29T17:17:14Z")
[The Tories are the party of the common people.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/377 "2010-04-29T17:29:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You really think that distinction is possible, or even meaningful? Heisenberg’s Uncertainly Principle – that the observer changes the thing observed by observing it – applies with even more force in human social life than at the subatomic level. Yes. Someone gave the go ahead to run with this piece of shit “journalism” without even making the slightest attempt to verify if what he said was even true, or not. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/378 "2010-04-29T18:49:02Z")
Another debate coming up, supposedly on the economy. I’d wager Brown isn’t looking forward to this one as the others… The amusing thing is one gaffe like this could cost Labour a constituency, Rotherham is a very marginal constituency where Labour has a majority of only a hundred or so votes. Brown’s probably cost him a fair few votes with that little blunder, the lifelong Labour voter he insulted said she’d not vote at all. Good news for the Lib Dems, though. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/379 "2010-04-29T18:59:05Z")
Yes, but she didn’t say she’d be changing her vote to a Tory or Lib-Dem one, either. And I’m fairly sure it happened in Rochdale, not Rotherham. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/380 "2010-04-29T19:42:46Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Yes, but she didn’t say she’d be changing her vote to a Tory or Lib-Dem one, either. It’s still a vote less for Labour, which is the point. > [@](#): > > And I’m fairly sure it happened in Rochdale, not Rotherham. Whoops, wrong R. Watching the debate right now. I missed the opening statements, but nobody’s mentioning Gordon’s gaffe right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=20)