The Spectator is claiming that this, first heckle of the general election campaign made Gordon Brown look absolutely terrible in completely blanking it. It could "reverberate across the campaign" their man says. Of course, I agree. But having looked at the video, I can't help wondering whether it was a setup. It conveniently refers to state school choices, a key Tory policy pledge (and an excellent one).
What do you think?
If genuine, and I hope it is, then it is very damaging for Brown after what has been, so I glean from the blogs, and from what I saw of his last, awful, pmqs, a pretty appalling day for him already. On the other hand, if the heroic heckler is shown to have any links with the Conservative party whatsoever, rather than being purely a parent severely hacked-off with Brown and his disastrous government, then it will backfire badly.
On balance, it probably is an honest and spontaneous outburst (we shall see), in which case the Speccy is right and it provides yet another reason to vote Conservative - to right yet another Labour wrong.
Update:
Well, on Ben Butterworth's, (henceforth known as 'The Heckler'), nice blog, he is at pains to point this out: "I'm a floating voter, always have been" and that there's no "political angle".
Good on him, and I apologise for my suspicious mind ;) (His site traffic must have gone through the roof!)
This has been a terrible day for Gordon Brown and Labour. Which means it's been a great day for everyone else! Excellent.
Nick Robinson made mincemeat of him as well on the 10 o'clock news. It'll be interesting to see the next batch of polls and whether they show a further increase in the Tory lead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up, adam. Will watch with interest. I don't worry about the polls too much, btw. I think they're totally unreliable, increase in Tory support or not. You should see how they 'weight' them, especially Kellner's mob. Unbelievable.
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