Brown made the comment in his car as he drove away from the visit in Rochdale, part of an effort to revive a Labour Party trailing the opposition Conservatives and, in some polls, even the third force in British politics, the Liberal Democrats,
“That was a disaster,” Brown was heard saying as he got into a car still wearing a broadcast microphone. “Whose idea was that? It’s ridiculous.” Asked what the voter had said, Brown said: “Everything, she’s just sort of a bigoted woman.”
The comments are a rare gaffe in what has been a tightly- scripted and choreographed campaign for all political parties ahead of May 6 elections.
“I apologise if I’ve said anything that has been hurtful and I will apologise to her personally,” Brown said. “I was dealing with a question that she raised about immigration and I wasn’t given a chance to answer it.”
The pensioner had asked Brown how he would tackle the country’s record deficit as well as other issues ranging from east European immigration, pensions and university tuition fees. “I am very disappointed,” she said after hearing about Brown’s comments. “He is an educated person. Why is he using words like that? He is going to lead this country and he’s calling an ordinary woman who has just come up and asked him questions... a bigot.”
Reuters
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