THE Blairites brand him ‘psychologically flawed’ and ‘a fucking awful prime minister’, the Cameroons make jokes about his Asperger’s Syndrome. Rightwing bloggers insist that he is permanently zonked on heavy duty antidepressants known as Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors.
Everyone, it seems, feels qualified to play the amateur headshrink when it comes to discussing the mental health of Gordon Brown.
Now Andrew Rawnsley has weighed in with accusations that the Labour leader is a nasty piece of work, much given to grabbing staff by the lapels and screaming invective in their faces, and thumping the back of passenger seats in a manner that scares chauffeurs.
Sure, Rawnsley has got a book to sell, and may conceivably be guilty of exaggeration, although in journalistic terms he is frankly the antithesis of the stereotypical sensationalist tabloid hack.
But unfortunately for the PM, there are enough corroborated tales of his behaviour to render official insistence that the claims are ‘malicious’ and ‘totally without foundation’ entirely risible.
That’s why attempts by some on the left to write off the story as a Tory-orchestrated personal smear, designed chiefly to deflect attention from Conservative policy shortcomings, themselves come across as entirely insincere, unconvincing, and therefore ultimately misguided.
No amount of reflex Labour loyalism can get away from the essential point that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable in any modern workplace, from Ten Downing Street to the local fish and chip shop. If anyone else comported himself in such a manner, any on-the-case union rep would have a grievance lodged with HR in no time flat.
Sure, it is legitimate to criticise the catchpenny way the Tories have tried to make political capital out of this through some two-bob front organisation charity, but that does not let Brown off the hook on the substance of the claim.
Shouty Boss Syndrome was actually commonplace as late as the 1980s. It is perhaps one of the few triumphs of employment legislation in the intervening period that jumped up middle managers now know that they cannot start bawling people out the minute they get the keys to their first company car.
The revelations, in and of themselves, are hardly likely to push any sizeable number of Labour voters into the Tory camp this late in the electoral cycle.
But speaking as somebody who will be out on the knocker for Gordon Brown’s party, all I can say is that they will not make the sell any easier. Once more we are being let down by the men at the top.
Posted at 14:04, 22 February 2010
Comments (23)
Surely it was the risibly unconvincing, and obviously (er) terminologically inexact attempts of the Brown loyalists which prompted La Pratt to speak up. As you say, Brown's unappealing behaviour has been an open secret for years.
When you get Alan Johnson swearing blind that he's never, in 17 years, even heard Brown raise his voice, it's time for the counter-argument, and a bit more honesty, to be heard.
I would have thought that most people will already have a settled picture of what they believe Gordan Brown's character to be. No-one's going to change their mind in the run-up to the General Election.
And you're still going to vote for the nutter.
What does that make you, Dave?
I wonder how many Man Utd fans(or players for that matter) want to get rid of Fergie?
ps much better analysis of all of this over at Andy Newman's site.
There are places where Shouty Boss Syndrome still exists. Next time you meet a Daily Mail journalist, ask him why Mail hacks call Dacre the Vagina Monologue. And how come Alex Ferguson's management style doesn't get dissected like this?
Seems convenient as the election approaches. You do feel sorry for those highly paid public schoolboy Tory civil servants being shouted at. Poor wee souls. The things that go on at boarding school could not be worse than the bark of a Scotsman!
I don't hink the civil servants in question were highly paid Tory public schoolboys. They'd have an unshakeable sense of their own worth and would not phone up 'bullying hotlines'. The English middle and upper classes always used to be stoical and have 'a stiff upper lip'. Probably still do, but I don't mix with that sort any more!
It looks like the game is up on those that are trying to stitch up Brown, again. I hope you are in good company now Sue. I do prefer the company of people that pay for their round of drinks when it comes around. Working class people Sue. The English tend to sneak off, leave the company and buy their own or suddenly need the toilet!
I suspect to most hearing that Brown is a bully is not news. He isn't the first prime minister to be one, and I doubt the last. It's worth remembering that his heroine, Maggie had a similar trait. For me, seeing him on the platform with McDonnell and, I think, Meacher for the leadership election that never happened showed this part of his personality very clearly. Of course the larger the crowd the harder it is to bully, so the affect he has in the schoolyard of the PLP isn't possible with the whole country.
The greater danger is that the last two prime ministers have done away with cabinet government and used a presidential style of governing. The fact that Cameron and company haven't picked up on this seems to suggest we could be in for of the same from them if they win.
It is well known that Brown an aggressive, everyone should be as hard-working and good as me, piece of shouty cack.
Take just one case.
His disastrous Welfare 'reform' project and 'workfare' may have had the details given by Purnell and Freud, but it was the man himself who pushed it through.
Despite a vigorous campaign by all the lobbies of those who actually know how the welfare system works, and the misery these changes and new schemes will (and are) causing Brown ignored them totally. Even the evdience that it would cost huge sums to farm our welfare to private companies is ignored.
Apart from being largely disliked by the popular masses, he merits every low blow he gets.
And btw, that Charlie Wheelan is evidence that of the shouty-bully (or gobby goon) is not confined to PMs, public sector managers, or private enterprise.
Think that you're spot on. Special pleading does the left no good whatsoever. What happens the next time that one of those defending the sort of behaviour described goes in to complain of bullying of a junior member of staff by a manager? Do they accept the management excuse that this is a high pressure environment and therefore this sort of thing is okay? Do they condemn junior staff with the least power to a working life of misery, and probably stress induced depression, or do they stand up for workers rights? I think we know the answer. Double standards are being applied that genuine socialists should have no truck with.
It would be helpful if these people who were bullied could substantiate some of these claims.
Something Finkelstein said on Newsnight last night kind of summed it up for me- "everyone knows it's true." It's something that everyone seems to "know" but no one can prove, it's gossip that Rawnsley has picked up and woven into a specific narrative.
This is the bloke who has in the past produced direct quotes for conversations that Gordon Brown has had that can be proved not to have happened- a conversation between Blair and Brown in the back of a car on an occasion when they are on camera leaving in different cars for instance.
He's a storyteller, and vague rumours that Gordon Brown can lose his temper aren't as good for narrative as specifics, substantiated or not. Bullying isn't cool, but here we have hacks and Tories making accusations. I'll take it more seriously when a member of staff stands up and claims to have been bullied.
To some extent questioning the veracity of the stories and attempting to justify bullying behaviour are two different sorts of response to the allegations only one of which is valid. Whether the stories are true or not can legitimately be questioned. Attempting to justify bullying can't.
However MikeSC I think that you're being naive in the extreme expecting junior members of staff who may have been bullied to come forward. That would jeopardise both their jobs and their careers.
I've personally seen two young female members of staff in my workplace subjected to bullying within the last year. Both have now left jobs that they loved doing because they could no longer work in a bullying environment. I've seen both reduced to tears of fear and frustration by the manager involved. One was prepared to complain the other was too scared to. The manager is now being disciplined and may even be dismissed but the misery he inflicted has already scarred these young women's mental health and confidence. I don't know whether Gordon Brown is a bully or not but I won't have his actions justified if he is.
"However MikeSC I think that you're being naive in the extreme expecting junior members of staff who may have been bullied to come forward. That would jeopardise both their jobs and their careers."
Yes, but if they don't come forward then we're stuck forever at square one, with accusations being thrown about by third parties who have their own reasons to be making such allegations. If it is happening, then it needs to be exposed. If it isn't, it needs to be clear that the accusations were unfair.
What we've had is a lot of people appearing in the media, causing a stink about Brown's alleged bullying, and then falling back on confidentiality in order to avoid having to justify what they've said.
They're perfectly free to do so, but what use other than political is it to make these accusations without ever intending to follow through and provide evidence?
The timing of this tells us it is a political stitch up, not some noble crusade against bullying.
The Tory front National bullying helpline exposure is the most revealing part of this whole sordid affair.
Tories doing charity, surely a paradox that threatens time and space itself.
I agree with Edgar and Splintered Sunrise. David Lindsay saw through this rubbish days ago.
I'm sure Brown isn't perfect but this story has the stink of political opportunism and treachery about it.
@ Andrew Coates: Good points about the disgusting Send 'em back to the Workhouses bill or whatever it's called but it's the cabinet's baby just as much as it's Broon's.
"that they cannot start bawling people out the minute they get the keys to their first company car"
Wish someone had told my last boss. He was a legend, you could hear him through walls and he never used the same combination of swearwords twice. He also won three tribunals against poor unfortunates subjected to it.
Shouty Boss Syndrome, like the plague, is not quite eradicated yet. There's still a feeling that if you're getting results, the means are justified. Alex Ferguson will only be pulled up for his behaviour when Man U start losing.
The country hosting the Olympics can nominate a sport, right?
In honour of McBroon, I'd suggest tossing the Nokia.
Coates at 10.24 is 100% right.
Re-read what he said about McBroon and the welfare screwup.
Bill Corr. Looks like all the evidence is pointing towards an attempted fitt up. You would not approve surely!
Jimmy -
One cannot be guided accurately by tenth-hand rumours but the yarn ALWAYS was that McBroon had a very nasty side
Bill Corr. The Tories and media friends are a dab hand at spinning the yarn.
It might be worth reflecting that, in essence, it is WE who are being bullied - shoved into a regime that-knows-best-for-us, like it or not. If Brown is, heaven forbid, re-elected, we may not have a recognisable country to call our own. This man has wasted billions of our money to the point of tragedy. Problem is, some people find control from above comforting in a way - all the propaganda and messages day in and day out in the media/advertising, intend it to be exactly that. We have to wake up to what is happening and the mindset from which it is stemming. This is not healthy for any of us. It needs much more analysis.