Brown's crass Olympics comparison

kinglear

What do you expect? None of them have the least idea what it means to " serve" either in the forces or in any other meaning of the word.

Bob Tozer

Presumably idiot Brown will now ensure that all our soldiers receive the same welcome back to the UK as our sportsman and even more make sure they are paid the sort of money the Gold medalists can expect to earn as celebrities?

Simon Leonard

A clumsy effort by the PM certainly but the second part of the statement is important -

"You make our country proud every day of the week and every week of the year. You are truly the heroes of our country. I wish to say how proud I am of you today."

But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant whatever you do.

Austin Barry

Brown and his advisers are quite mad. I'm surprised that he didn't equate the Victoria Cross to an Olympic gold medal and moot some BBC Soldier of the Year awards programme(posthumous entries welcome). One doesn't like to use coarse invective to describe our awful PM, but in this instance he has revealed himself to be an insensitive tosser.

Victor, NW Kent

Fine comment by Brown. Why then has the MOD under Des Browne refused to award a special campaign medal for Afghanistan?

Why do our troops have to but private stocks of food as military charges are too high?

Why are our troops short of ammunition and why is sub-standard ammunition bought on the open market by the MOD?

New Labour - words, words, words.

Charles

Here is a cracking example of how these things can be done well; the words of General Lionel Charles Dunsterville (aka Kipling's 'Stalky'):

"Well, men," he commenced, "I suppose you want to know why you are here; but to begin with, I might as well tell you the truth, and that is the good Shah has just informed me that I must leave Persia with my force immediately. This I do not propose to do, and I have notified his Majesty accordingly, and in addition, told him that I find this country most agreeable to my health and also to my officers and men. I take it that you will find it the same, and anticipated that such would be your opinion when I replied for myself and on your behalf. I might say that I also added that, if he desired that we should go, the only thing left for him to do was simply to come and put us out. I admit that there are less than a hundred of us here even now, but we have an old Russian armoured car, together with a driver, a few machine guns, one or two Ford cars, and each of you have a rifle with a few hundred rounds of ammunition. On the other hand, there is such a thing in existence as a Persian army. Still we are of the right stuff, ....."

source: Stalky's Forlorn Hope by Capt S G Savige (see - www.firstaif.info/stalky/0-stalky-index.htm - for entire book online)

Mic Comber

I sent this to the Telegraph but doubt they will print it:-
So Mr G Brown compares the heroes in the Olympics with the heroes in Afghanistan. If I were still in the Services I would be greatly insulted.

There are no heroes in the Olympics, simple as that. They are sportsmen/women who most certainly are not putting their lives on the line. With or without medals, they do what they do for their own enjoyment and mainly for themselves, providing entertainment largely as a by-product.

chris

I thought the whole performance bizarre. He looked like he was talking to the press and not the troops. The analogy with the Olympics was inept and demeaning to troops who put their lives on the line everyday. Keep in mind the story in The Times of the "shagathon" that goes on in the Olympic village! The more "spin" doctors Brown gets the worse he performs. I actually think we'll miss him when he goes because he's just such a misfit as a public figure.

Searcher

Brown thinks that the miltary are equivalent to Olympic athletes - that's why he chose to spend money on faster bikes, and not on helicopters and armoured vehicles.

Keith

And the troops behind Mr Clunking Fist Brown have the same glum and dis-enchanted expressions that we saw when dear Tone posed for a similar photo shoot. I wonder how many of them really WANTED to be in the vicinity of their "leader" and how many were just obeying orders?

Nicholas

Simon Leonard, rants are seldom resorted to without cause. It's a cunning way to undermine the content of a "rant" by describing it as such, a little like the use of such terms as "Little Englander" or "Middle England Bedwetter" - all contrived to discredit and undermine the sentiments and content of a rant when it comes from a non-socialist perspective, however valid they may be.

People rant against Brown and his rotten government because he and they make them feel frustrated, angry and powerless. Examples of his continuing profligate idiocy add fuel to that fire. The rest of Brown's statement which you cite does not make amends for the crass utterings already highlighted by Mr Korski nor does it excuse the legitimate complaints about his defence "policy" made by other posters here. As someone else has pointed out they are just words. The whole exercise was just propaganda and spin by shabby Brown. Inept propaganda and spin at that, because it just gave rise to even more loathing and even more rants against him.

At this stage of New Labour's continuing unwanted national socialist occupation of the once great, free nation of Britain I am just surprised that people are still restricting themselves to online rants rather than resorting to mass civil disobedience and protest.

Brown and his rotten crew need to get out of No.10 and take their bands of Britain-busting socialists with them.

Nick Harrington

I quite liked a (MSFW) Bloggers comment yesterday "Put crudely our brave Boys and Girls are facing bullets and bombs, not blood-tests and the biased-BBC." Rogue Gunner also summed up McT quite well.

Tom

Wouldn't it be refreshing if he could go to iraq or afghanistan without the press in tow...

john miller

Someone's having a laugh, aren't they? I bet there is a competition amongst his advisers, scriptwriters, bottom-wipers. How daft can they make his presentation and speeches before the Prime Mentalist finally catches on?

Tiggy winkle (for such is the adviser's name): Keep your back to the troops at all times - it's a sign of respect.

PM: Uh-huh

TW: Compare them to someone really famous and like, a hero, say err, Jayne Goody

PM: Urrr

TW: Ok,ok, say the Olympic athletes, then. They've done really well haven't they?

PM: Uh-huh

Marcus Cotswell

Ah, nothing like a good bit of synthetic outrage to end the week. Especially youthful scribblers purporting to speak on behalf of the armed forces.

Bob Tozer

Its not all coming from Broon - I mean he cant be THAT stupid can he?? He's surrounded by all those bright young things in the No 10 bunker ( you know, all straight A's etc) - so there you go - they are ALL STUPID! - The great leader is surrounded by idiots soon to be out of a job and unemployable.

Marian C

Nicholas @ 1:12pm - Well said

Nicholas

Nothing synthetic about the outrage here, Marcus, old boy, and I doubt many of the scribblers are youthful either. But your post is certainly smug, if unfortunately worded.

Scribblers don't speak, they write and they don't purport, they either do or don't. And there is no rule that says non-servicemen and women or ex-servicemen and women cannot write on behalf of actual servicemen and women, so shove it, there's a good fellow.

Austin Barry

Marcus, "Synthetic Outrage"? This would be a great name for an all-girl Cabinet band with Hazel Blears, Jacqui Smith, Harriet Harman and Yvette Cooper gyrating in sequined, tight red Lycra dresses and singing a song in support of Gordon along the lines of "Gordon, Gordon, Gordon is best, We wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest". They could debut the song at the party conference. I can see it now. Grrrr...pass the bromide.

Frank Pulley

Austin Barry

The thought of Hazel Bleary in seqinned tights has probably sent Fergus Pickering (her devoted fan on this blog) into a transport of delight. Stop pandering to the perverted tastes of the punters! You should have to sign a register for such outrageous licence. Don't know how you get such filth past the moderator. When I used the only word that can describe Brown in the way that a squaddie would after his remarks to the troops, the moderator spiked it.

Perhaps it was a bit strong .... but there are times when if the cap fits he should be made to wear it like a horse collar.

Fergus Pickering

The name's great but the song's rubbish. Try 'Gordon Brown, Gordon Brown, he's just the coolest man in town. Don't let the country get you down. We love you Gordon, Gordon Brown. Now you write the music.

TGF UKIP

Austin Barry, Frank Pulley and Fergus Pickering three posts which sum up why I love this website so much.

If I were you, though, Fergus I would very quickly copyright my lines before the BBC steal them for background to every newscast.

albert hall

When did the last Olympic Gold Medalist have his legs blown off by a roadside mine?

Ted Tedford

Great - maybe the Brown government can now outsource funding the Armed Forces to the National Lottery.