The charm offensive continues
Peter Hoskin 3:04pm
Oh dear. Another unnerving TV-appearance from Gordon Brown today – this time on ‘This Morning’ with Fern Britton (you can watch it here). As Britton says, it’s “an opportunity for [Brown] to be a human being”…
The ITV morning chat-show may not be known for rigorous political interviewing, but Britton is surprisingly tenacious. When Brown’s talking about “political instability in the Middle East” being behind rising fuel prices, she interjects: “Yes, but how much tax do you put on the fuel?” Brown’s taken aback, and mumbles, “if you take the £1.10 [a litre cost of petrol], then [fuel duty’s] a high part of it.” Doesn’t he know the actual figure? As Fraser notes here, 66p of that £1.10 is Treasury tax.
There are more Brownie-style stunts – again, he claims that he’s putting pressure on OPEC to lower oil prices, and there’s the usual line about how America’s responsible for all our fiscal woes. For these and more, I'd recommend you watch it all the way through.
Hat-tip: Three Line Whip
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Comments
kinglear
May 8th, 2008 3:32pmAND he wasn't at Gwynethh Dunwoody's funeral, which goes to show he really has neither fellow feeling nor political nous anymore ( even if he ever had it)
salieri
May 8th, 2008 3:52pmWas this a Brownie: " We've created 3 million jobs in the last 10 years" ? Apart from Diversity Advisers, that is?
Brown is even more ghastly when he tries to be human, by the way.
Paul
May 8th, 2008 3:58pmI think he sounded quite patronising and condescending.
Perry
May 8th, 2008 3:59pmYuk!!
Pass the bucket
[With apols to faint and tender hearts]
Austin Barry
May 8th, 2008 4:25pmThis is to be the new mantra then: McBroon contra mundum: blame the US, blame OPEC, blame those pesky foreigners wolfing down our grub, blame this, blame that...Pathetic. The Government should be rolling with the punches and addressing these issues in some meaningful, robust way, not flapping its limp-wristed, nail-bitten hands at circumstance. This government is precisely characterised by the baleful performance of Jim Fitzpatrick, Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, on yesterday's Newsnight: shifty, evasive, bumbling, incompetent and patronising. It was a pleasure to watch Paxo eviscerate him.
Paul B
May 8th, 2008 4:30pmReady Steady Splat, well done Fern.
David
May 8th, 2008 4:34pmNever has charm been quite so offensive.
Nicholas
May 8th, 2008 4:57pmBut why are they giving him all this air time to peddle his dreary and repetitive codswallop?
Max Kaye
May 8th, 2008 5:00pmGB's nonexistent wax dummy at Madame Tussauds exhibits more humanity and sincerity.
Perry
May 8th, 2008 6:31pm[OT]
BTW . . . . and, as if to prove versatility . . . surreptitious sale of British Energy?
No lie I believe, - rather the reverse – appears hardly a word spoken? (report in FT today)
Tanuki
May 8th, 2008 7:41pmEvery time Brown does that hideous fake grin of his, God kills a kitten.
Please, Gordon - think of the kittens!
Jessica
May 8th, 2008 8:00pmI might be wrong but I think Fern used to be a political journalist many moons ago.
Richard
May 8th, 2008 9:15pm" I'd recommend you watch it all the way through." - Are you out of your mind? It lasts, apparently, for twelve and a half minutes, nearly a quarter of an hour of my life that I'd never get back. Thanks for the highlights, though.