Gordon Brown Turns On The Education Spin
THE handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown was going to be smooth and seamless. We would not notice. And what we might notice – Gordon’s gulping for air and teeth – we would come to love.
And so it is that, like Tony before him, Gordon Brown is accused of spin. This is, of course, a baseless attack. Who can forget the sight of Brown draped in the flag of St George a small Muslim man dandling on his knee that spin was over?
But some don’t listen. Some cannot move on. And following yesterday’s story that Team Brown spun a story about what schools would feature in his keynote speech on education, the Times has more.
“No 10 spin row,” says the front page. “No row,” says Downing Street, reading aloud. “Gordon Brown was dragged deeper in to a spin row,” continues the Times.
Then: “’Prime Minister Gordon Brown misled press and schools and now must apologise.’”
Evidence? “We were contacted by the Downing Street press office. They told us that Westfield Community School, one of our schools, would be mentioned in a speech the following day by Gordon Brown,” says Tom Bevan of the Western Gazette.
“We received a call the day before from the PM’s office to say we would be mentioned in the speech, and asking us if we were comfortable with that. We said yes,” says Iain Hulland, head of Alder Grange.
“The school was alerted by the Prime Minister’s office that Astley Community High School would be included. We issued a press release,” notes Northumberland Council spokeswoman.
“We are sticking by our version of events and have nothing to add to our statements from last night, which we stand by,” Prime Minister’s spokesman.
And we are encouraged to realise that nothing has changed…
Pic: Beau Bo D’Or
Posted: 7th, November 2007 | In: Broadsheets, Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
