Reactions and Overreactions

Hello all,

The big news today is that Gordon Brown has been caught on tape describing a woman he met on the campaign trail as "bigoted". This comment was made after she asked about Eastern European immigration, describing them as "flocking".

Now, these remarks are enough to make a lot of people uncomfortable, me included. To call them bigoted would be something of an overstatement, but would be understandable, say, at home with friends.

This is why the story is so problematic. Brown was recorded, without his knowledge, and then the tape of his private conversation was made public for all to laugh at him. Private comments should not and must not be what we judge our politicians by, any more than extra-marital affairs or any other affairs of their private life.

The greatest hypocrisy of all, however, is that this tape is defended by the people who would cite Orwell to describe the current "Nanny State" (a term which, by the way, I despise). The people who would remove every CCTV camera and every form. Regardless of your views on these issues, the double standard of guarding your privacy so rigorously whilst ignoring that of others is intolerable.

One final point: When Chris Grayling's remarks on homosexual couples and B&Bs were leaked, I was as keen to criticise them as anyone. However, this is an issue that directly affects the voters. Grayling was making an ideological point on his view of Tory policy. Brown, on the other hand, was offering a (strongly worded) opinion on one individual. This was not in the public interest, and so I see no reason why it should affect anyone's opinion of him.

The First Post

Hello all,

It seems customary for the first comment always to be about the fact that you are publishing your first comment, and who am I to argue with tradition?

Actually, I argue with and about tradition quite a lot, being an atheist and a skeptic. I'm planning on using this blog to post on topical matters that are just too long to be discussed on twitter (twitter.com/chrismeredith, by the way), starting from as soon as I remember.

The Future awaits...