Brown Buffetted By "Bullying" Backlash

[Rob McCow]

Gordon Brown - love him or hate him, you can't help but quiver in terror every time he throws a mobile phone at your head accompanied by a barrage of foul language.

Allegations staff at Gordon Brown's office contacted an anti-bullying charity are "very serious", says Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.

Mr Clegg told the BBC the allegations had to be "cleared up by No 10".

Charity boss Christine Pratt said she had not said staff had accused Mr Brown of being a bully but was concerned about a denial of any problem by No 10.

She denied breaching confidentiality, but Mr Brown's aide said she should have taken the matter up privately.

It follows allegations about Mr Brown's behaviour towards staff, in a book by the Observer's chief political commentator, Andrew Rawnsley, published in the newspaper on Sunday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8527611.stm

To me, it seems inevitable that Prime Ministers and politicians will use strong methods at some time or another. If they don't then they could be accused of being weak, or vulnerable to being replaced. I don't think we can expect the whole of the cabinet to be good chums and buddies, at the very least they're supposed to represent a range of views so there is always scope for conflict.

Machiavelli argued that there were two ways to rule effectively - using either the cunning of the fox or the aggression of the lion. Both methods are designed to keep your enemies from deposing you.

At the moment, nobody has come out to make a direct allegation of specific bullying incidents. Unless they do, it's unlikely there will be any consequences apart from another dip in Brown's popularity.

So - how would you cope with running a cabinet? Do you believe the claims that Brown is a bully? Is it actually a bad thing for him to behave aggresively towards his colleauges, given the stakes involved?

[Philipnet]

OMG! Steve' read Machiavelli!

[Jon Masters]

OMG! Steve' read Machiavelli!

I think it was a question on last week's University Challenge

[Captain Tancredi]

The thing is that there's a difference (or there should be) between keeping the Cabinet in line- bearing in mind that probably a quarter of them have been touted at your successor and at any given time will be looking for you to slip up- and the way you treat civil servants, who are part of the machinery of government. MPs and ministers have sought public office and have to accept that at times they will have to fall into line- Whitehall civil servants are (or should be) apolitical and haven't put themselves in the firing line in quite the same way.

[Dino]

"Don't you think she looks tired?..."

This is one of those moments. I'm glad the co-founder of the helpline has quit in protest of the Head making a confidential claim public. Has it been proved one way or another if this is actually true? Gordon Brown actually threw staplers, and bullied people? Even if he is a madman I'll STILL be voting Labour rather than "What larks! We've been elected into power...er.. let's just outsource everything so we don't have the responsibility of running it and can coast on the glory!"

Another reason that makes me feel easier about only 34% saying they are intending to vote in the next election.

Keep it coming media! Together we'll get the BNP elected on a 0.08% turnout and then you can print huge headlines bullying the public (oh the irony!) into "doing" about it!

I think Gordon is innocent and these are smears. It's turned out it was an anonymous email sent to to the charity from an address inside number 10. Is it a malicious hacker? Is The Doctor up to his old tricks again? And if Gordon is replaced and a new code of conduct of anti-bullying comes into place... how easy will it be to enforce? Number one question: Is it any of our business anyway?

[Captain Tancredi]

Whether it's true or not matters less at the moment than whether it's believable. The problem with Gordon Brown's public persona is that you can believe that somebody with that level of social awkwardness and unease could lose it if they aren't getting their own way.

One thing about having a long run-in to an election is that it gives people a lot of time to make up their mind before polling day. I suspect that most people have already decided which way they're going to vote (if at all) and there's not much that could come along and change that. However, sometime in mid-April we're due the first quarter results on the economy, and I'm sure that Gordon Brown is probably more afraid of slipping back into negative growth than of newspaper rumours.

[Andrew Curnow]

I have to be honest and say that when I heard about this on the news this morning, my reaction was much the same as when I read people saying, for example, how difficult Tom Baker was to work with by 1980. That is to say, I don't care!!! Gordon Brown is supposed to be running the country, and frankly if he gets a bit aggressive from time to time then I'm actually rather pleased - given the state of things, it should be making all the cabinet angry from time to time!!

Maybe it depends on your definition of bullying - I don't think he's cornering his cabinet colleagues on their own and stealing their dinner money. And to be honest, if grown men or women, in a position of some authority in the government of the country, don't have the nerve to confront the issue at cabinet, and instead choose to ring up some helpline, then maybe they're in the wrong job!!

Bizarrely, I could even see this story doing Gordon some good. And it has to be said, that even with all this s**t going on, and with the general disatisfaction with government, it speaks volumes that nobody seems to be thinking of the Tories as a dead cert to win the election - in 1997 I don't think anybody doubted Labour would sweep to victory, but this time the Opposition don't look any better than the Government.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Shame he hasn't got like that with the bankers who got us all into such a huge mess ... noooo he has to cosy up to them.

I'm so hoping he doesn't get in again, and we can end this sad chapter of one of the most useless Prime Ministers we've ever had. He could be replaced by Charlie Chaplain and it'd be an improvement.

I dislike Gordon Brown so much ... I left the country!

[Captain Tancredi]

My current aim in life is to have my debts paid off by the time I'm 40 (about two and a half years) and then teach English abroad, preferably in Eastern Europe. For what it's worth, I think Britain is at the fag end of what may be a terminal decline from the heights of imperial power a hundred years ago, and until something happens to give us a sense of collective purpose, as far as I'm concerned being British is just a flag of convenience.

[SiHart]

Number one question: Is it any of our business anyway?

That's the crucial point isn't it? The newspapers are once again setting themselves up as the self-appointed moral guardians of the nation with no justification other than selling more papers. Is it a story more worthy than any of the other probably hundreds of workplaces where bullying may or may not go on? What gives them the right to reveal stuff that was told to an anti bullying charity?

Why aren't people more outraged by this? We're living in a country where the private lives of anyone can be revealed to the papers with seemingly no consequence. This is huge, huge hyprocrisy from the papers, who only a few months ago were getting worked up by other confidential data being left on discs in parks or cars or whatever...

I'm so fed up with the media, with all the spin everything gets, with the agendas they all work to. I don't think anyone has a clue what's really going on anywhere in this country.

Si xx

[WhiteCrowNZ]

For what it's worth, I think Britain is at the fag end of what may be a terminal decline from the heights of imperial power a hundred years ago, and until something happens to give us a sense of collective purpose, as far as I'm concerned being British is just a flag of convenience.

It's interesting going through all that and the "omg we people in Britain get a rough deal ... life's so much better in XXX".

Now I'm in New Zealand I hear lots of "omg we people in New Zealand get a rough deal ... life's so much better in XXX".

I think the grass always looks a bit greener elsewhere. Of course the huge number of Poles and E Europeans who have flocked to the UK do prove that people do look at the UK as a relative paradise. Oh and just about everyone seems to think Australia is a relative paradise - with lots of news stories of people defecting over there. Supposedly there are 5 million New Zealanders, but 1 million live in Australia!

[Captain Tancredi]

It's interesting going through all that and the "omg we people in Britain get a rough deal ... life's so much better in XXX".

Now I'm in New Zealand I hear lots of "omg we people in New Zealand get a rough deal ... life's so much better in XXX".

I think the grass always looks a bit greener elsewhere. Of course the huge number of Poles and E Europeans who have flocked to the UK do prove that people do look at the UK as a relative paradise. Oh and just about everyone seems to think Australia is a relative paradise - with lots of news stories of people defecting over there. Supposedly there are 5 million New Zealanders, but 1 million live in Australia!

I suppose that's partly true, but then again if the grass didn't look greener elsewhere, we'd all still be living on the African savannah! I think that being dissatisfied with one's lot is part of human psychological makeup- it's what drives us to try to build a better mousetrap, do things better, improve ourselves and so on. Or, in my case, see what's in the next valley and find out what it feels like to live in a different country for a few years.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I do thoroughly recommend it. I spend 6 months living in Germany, which was an important time for me. I think you learn more about being English by not being in England - if you follow!

A brilliant Mark Steel Solution - where he proposes "Anyone born in England should be deported" ...

http://www.marksteelinfo.com/audiovi...io/England.mp3

[Dino]

That's the crucial point isn't it? The newspapers are once again setting themselves up as the self-appointed moral guardians of the nation with no justification other than selling more papers.

I'm so fed up with the media, with all the spin everything gets, with the agendas they all work to. I don't think anyone has a clue what's really going on anywhere in this country.

Si xx

Oh and that reminds me... I can't find video footage but last year I'm 100% sure I saw a picture of Sky News "presenter" Kay Burley with her hand around someones throat? If they are going to carry on with the "Bully Brown" story (which seems to have fizzled out) will Sky News be suspending Kay Burley for improper conduct?... apart from "No they wont." obviously!

[Andrew Curnow]

They're still going on about it on Breakfast Time - give Ed Balls his due, he's putting up a strong defence, and making some excellent points. Frankly I think the media's misjudged this, and although the BBC presenters are trying to get Balls to say "Oh yes, we must have an inquiry" he's firmly not doing so - and I can't imagine ANYBODY wanting to fork out for one, can you?

[Lissa]

How long before someone does a Gordon Brown parody of the oft-parodied Hitler rant from "Downfall"?

Didn't all this come up when Gordon Brown sent that badly written letter to a soldier's family - the suggestion was that his staff were too scared of him to point out it was full of mistakes - but the media had an outraged widow to focus on and didn't need the PM-is-a-bully angle. Which just shows what a non-story this is. If there is a newspaper editor in London who hasn't bullied his or her staff to at least the same degree Brown is accused of then I'll be very surprised. Isn't bullying behaviour something of a badge of honour amongst editors?

[SiHart]

It's an odd thing to find yourself supportung Ed Balls, but quite frankly he did really well against the agenda of BBC Breakfast this morning. They had an angle and weren't prepared to see any other viewpoint than the one they've decided is right. Points to Ed Balls for standing his ground and making the point that the real issue is the breach of confidentiality at the charity.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Was he that weird man talking to Natasha (?) thingy at around half seven, who constantly looked like he was smiling? He did look irritating, but she was very persistant.

It's all nonsense! Pathetic spin designed to give the Tories a couple more opinion poll points. I know, let's have an enquiry! Then Brown can have some bad publicity, we'll be 1% more liked and the taxpayer can foot the £100,000 wages for some bigwig to look at some papers and decide there's nothing in it.

Si.