Fifteen minutes of fame....

Any bigots out there? As Gordon Brown puts his foot right in his mouth TonbridgeBlog asks: what is a bigot anyway? Here's the Oxford English Dictionary short definition: "obstinate and intolerant adherent of creed or view." I'm sure there are other longer deifinitions which would explain the word more fully, but this one says enough. So was the elderly lady from Rochdale a bigot? I'd say no more so than about half the population so you can draw your own conclusions on that one. You've only got to go in a real pub and listen to the regulars talk, or sit in a factory canteen (and yes I have done that many times in the past) to hear what the average working man or woman (whatever that may be) thinks about issues such as emigration. I remember feeling horified and outraged, as a student working on a holiday camp, when the men in the gardeners hut remarked that Enoch Powell was right that there were too many West Indian immigrants and now there were the rivers of blood he had predicted. Ok that was in the early 1980s and I'm sure that views have become a little more tolerant these days but I'd wager that many a factory and office worker still, at the very least, mutters the odd "bigotted" view to themselves or close colleagues. Of course they do. So, is your opinion of Gordon Brown or politicians generally any different? To be honest the only thing I'm surprised about is that anyone is actually surprised by this supposed revelation. I bet that when Gillian Duffy (the old lady in question) reflects back on this episode she'll realise it was all a storm in a teacup as she banks her estimated £50,000 the Sun is reported to be giving her for her exclusive story! I think it was Andy Warhol who said that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, well Mrs Duffy certainly got hers yesterday....