Father Brown’s double-standard

In his speech to the Labour conference, Gordon Brown launched a highly personal attack on how David Cameron treats his children:

“Some people have been asking why I haven’t served my children up for spreads in the papers And my answer is simple My children aren’t props; they’re people”

But Brown seems to have no problem with talking to print journalists about his children or having them appear during meetings with journalists. Take the interview in today’s Observer, Gaby Hinsliff reports that:

“His two-year-old son, Fraser, bursts in periodically still clad in his pyjamas and scrambles gleefully on to his father’s lap.”

Personally, I think it is entirely natural both for politicians to be photographed with their children or, within reason, to talk about them. But it is deeply hypocritical to accuse your opponent of using his children as props when you are so keen for the media to see you as a father.