Father Brown's double-standard

David Boothroyd

Was he supposed to lock the door while the nice lady from the Observer was there, to prevent her ever catching sight of his children? It's fairly clear that all that happened was that Fraser was running about the house of his own accord. Quite different from staged photos from the Camerons.

Faceless Bureaucrat

"Was he supposed to lock the door while the nice lady from the Observer was there, to prevent her ever catching sight of his children?". You miss the point,DB - either you use your children as props or you don't -but if you choose to do so, don't criticise the other guy for doing the same...

Fraser Nelson

David, its a fairly well-used Brown technique. His kids have a habit of 'accidentally' walking into rooms when he's being interviewed - journalists joke about it. Nothing wrong in that, in my view, it helps readers judge the character of a politician when they see him interact with his kids. Think how may hearts melted when Obama picked up his daughters on stage. So Brown is perfectly entitled to have his kids sent into the room - but it's a bit rich of him to lambaste Cameron for doing the same. Plus that speech, we'll remember, was the first in British political history where a party leader was introduced by his wife.

Alan

The very week Brown made his comments the BBC published a staged family photo of the Browns smiling for the camera. This Christmas Brown was pictured with his wife and children sat by a pile of presents. Sarah Brown, the very wife he claimed wasn't a prop, did his introduction at the Labour conference and campaigned for him in the recent Scottish by-election. Did he mean she wasn't a prop in the rugby sense?

Brown is, always was and always will be, a great big feartie hypocrite.

Travis Bickle

Fraser

Not as rich as accusing the Tories of enjoying the current crisis when he hasn't been so happy in years..

Verity

I think their children (not kids; why is it when the British adopt an Americanism, it's all the way? The Brits now use 'kids' in contexts that the Americans do not) are of no interest at all to the average voter, who only wants to know how politicians are going to solve problems that affect them.

The one mildly good thing I can say about Obama is, he didn't market his children along with himself. He didn't use them as vehicles for attaining his ambition. Indeed he protected them from the hoopla that they wouldn't have understood. For this, he and his wife get a plus mark.

I didn't know Brown was pushing his children, but Cameron has been stomach-churning with his constant spotlighting of that disabled boy. That kid (sic) has had more photo ops than Paris Hilton. I am not implying that it is in any way the child's fault. Obviously, this is all part of Cameron's strategy and I find it cynical and revolting.

John Kennedy has a lot to answer for.

Verity

Alan, I agree totally that Broon's a feartie. You can see it in his face. And his defensive manner.

Searcher

Yes DB, as already noted, you have totally missed the point. If you are a "serious man for serious times", then however dedicated a father you may be, then you will make sure that you can do your job - that is, give a major interview to a journalist from a heavyweight paper - without being interrupted. Unless, of course, you thought that being interrupted by your two year old was in fact a useful part of your job. Got it now, DB?

David

Of course you find it revolting, Verity; you hate the man. If he kept his children hidden away you'd most likely claim it was disgusting for him to be embarrassed by Ivan, and criticise him for keeping his children in the shadows. He can't win with you, can he?

Chuck Unsworth

Has Brown ever had 'staged' photos taken of himself and his 'family'?

Verity

David - I wouldn't call not shoving one's children down the public's throat "keeping them hidden away".

Equally, I find this new habit, started by Tony Slimeball, of sending out Christmas cards with photos of his family on them sleazy, as one would expect of anything initiated by Tony Blair. They're not the royal family.

Why should the public be presumed to be interested in all aspects of the chief executive's life? All the voters care about is how they are going to fare under his captaincy.

I alluded above to John Kennedy who was, I think, the first egomaniac to think that Christmas would be improved, and the voters much cheered, by photos of him and Jacky and his children.

Den

Verity what the hell has it got to do with you what Cameron does re his children, you do not even live in this country!

You are also completely wrong about Obama, he used his kids at every opportunity, people magazine interview anyone?????

Verity

Den - What the hell does it have to do with me? I have a vote. That's what.

Obama didn't use his "kids" at every opportunity. He was very restrained. And I say this as someone who loathes him.

JONNY

Please tell us if there's any politican you can stomach then Verity.
Apart from your much adored Sarah Palin.

Travis Bickle

Where are all these pictures of Ivan Cameron anyway? Haven't seen any in my newspapers for ages.

Verity - you may have a vote but you don't have to live with whoever is elected, so please turn the record over and feel free to inflict that "nice" Mr Brown on us for another 5 years since you clearly have some sort of obsession about Cameron.

Athesius the Facilitator

Tony Blair used his kids all the time. Even stood in downing street with a coffee mug with their faces on it. But he was so wonderful (to all except me and a few others) that people did not criticise him, in the mean time I was reaching for the sick bag. But the point is VERITY is Brown a hypocrite and the answer is "yes" without a doubt.

David Boothroyd

Fraser, you make yourself look an idiot with your comment. Gordon Brown has young children and young children move about the house. If you're claiming that he has some Svengali-like power of directing them to interrupt at particularly opportune moments, say so openly so we can all laugh at you.

The fundamental point remains and is unimpeachable: there are a mere handful (I think no more than two) publicly issued photographs of Gordon Brown posing with his sons, and the sons do not appear in public. By contrast David Cameron's sons and daughter have appeared frequently in newspaper profiles and on videos on his own website. The two party leaders are operating to two clearly different standards.

(It's probably not possible for someone in Gordon Brown's position to entirely prevent any pictures of his sons being made public which explains his reasonable decision to issue a couple; doing so prevents invasions of the family privacy by journalists who might suspect that the reason no photograph was issued was suspicious)

Dave H

Chuck - Has Brown ever had 'staged' photos taken of himself and his 'family'?

I'm sure this picture appearing in the Mail of Gordon and his props must have been some kind of mistake ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-401804/Daddy-Gordon-shows-family.html

I've no problem with a politician using the above picture, what I do have a problem with is the hypocrisy shown by Brown and the trouble he seems to have in sticking to the truth.

Verity - perhaps Obama didn't use his "kids" at every opportunity, but I seem to remember them appearing on stage quite a lot. I also remember him talking about being a father many times e.g. the whole puppy saga !

JONNY

Alan, I agree totally that Broon's a feartie.

For my education Verity , kindly tell me what a 'feartie' is meant to be.
'cos we don't speak americanese this side of the pond.

colin

He may say he doesn't use his kids as props, but that didn't stop him using his wife as a crutch at the last regime conference.

brown is a nasty, vindictive cynic and the sooner the backroom boys (and girls) at conservative party HQ take the gloves off and take the fight to him properly, the better.

Fergus Pickering

I think the chilren of the rich can put up with a bit of media exposure in exchange for, well, for being rich. You can certainly come and photograph my children for, say £150 a shot. Any offers? They are 25 and 21, so maybe a little past their sell-by date. Though I don't know. Think of that Clinton girl.

Verity

In response to Jonny: William Hague. John Redwood. Michael Howard. David Davis. President Felipe Calderón, Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong. Governor Bobby Jindal.

Like that.

Verity

Travis Bickle - Last week. The Cameron family Christmas card. Black and white, of course. Colour is so infra dig for Christmas. They were walking down an ordinary street. So interesting! Says so much about Christmas! Anyway, the little boy was being pushed in his pushchair.

Athesius, the answer to what is "yes"? And the slithy Blair was greatly jeered at at the time, if memory serves.

Travis Bickle - I have an obsession that we have to drop napalm on the Labour Party and finish the left off for good, and I am far from persuaded that Mr Cameron has the killer instinct, or the nous, to do it. Or the inclination as he is much attached to the EU project. He is the wrong man.

Verity

Jonny - you ask what "feartie" is as " we don't speak Americanese this side of the pond."

Oh, yes you do! You speak little else, eager as you all are to sound like, way cool. Every time any man here - men are by far the worst offenders - wants to sound authoritative, he writes "ain't". Even your own sentence is constructed in American. "We don't speak Americanese this side of the pond." That is US-speak. British grammar is "we don't speak Americanese on this side of the pond."

Feartie, by the way, is from closer to home. Across the border, in fact. It means a weak-kneed person who's easily frightened.

Dave H - Yes, he did too much talking about his daughters, but I'd rather hear a politician refer to his children than drag them out and shove them in my face. That whole campaign sucked on both sides.

Colin - Agreed.

Susan Hill

I work at home. When my children were small I worked at home too. Sometimes I had people come from the papers to interview me and when I did, I made sure we were not interrupted by random children, however much I loved them, unless there was an absolute emergency. It is as annoying and impolite to a journalist to think they should be interested in your children and think them cute, as it is annoying to work from home and let your children answer the telephone unless you have trained them how to do so politely. Children do indeed wander about a house but there should be times when certain rooms are out of bounds to those wanderings. They soon learn about it and it doesn`t bother them a bit.

JONNY

'Feartie, by the way, is from closer to home. Across the border,'
Begoorrah, she's spouting broad Scots now is she.
Those uncouth Pictish louts with blue woad plastered all over their faces. Who loathe the English only one degree less than the English loathe them.

Keep to Americanese then Verity - that's an order from on High.

Hysteria

Jonny - what are you on?

I think the "feartie" comment started many days (weeks? months?) ago - it reappeared here today and somebody thought Verity was making reference to American jargon - I think this was simply an error on the part of the poster - many of us were well ware of it being an anglicisation of a Scottish saying.

I *think* "begooorah/begorrah" is of Irish origination - but may be wrong on that.

Your reference to cross-boarder loathing doesn't help - and is a matter of your opinion - no?

Verity

Jonny - I don't speak Americanese, despite having a licence to do so stemming from the fact that I actually lived there for a few years.

As Hysteria writes, 'begorrah' is Irish and has nothing to do with the Scots or the Americans. You don't seem to get around much, Jonny.