Memo to Leo: pensioners always see through spin

DOES anyone remember the hapless Gordon Brown – the shortest- serving, never directlyelected, Labour Prime Minister? He came to mind this week in the aftermath of this Government’s first budget. Brown, when he was Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer gained early notoriety in 2000 when he gave British pensioners an increase of 75p a week.

This was made worse when it was revealed that, while the budget announcement was in September, the miserly increase would not come into effect until six months later.

We had much spin and backslapping this week with the announcement of the €5 increase for pensioners. But it won’t come into effect until the end of next March, so that in truth the increase is worth €2.50 a week between now and next October. In the next 12 months, pensioners will get an increase of €125 – from January TDs will get a weekly hike of €70!

Brown never recovered from his pensioner insult – yes, he did eventually get rid of Tony Blair, the most successful Labour prime minister ever, but was undone at his first general election because of his reliance on spin doctors and focus groups.

Remember Gillian Duffy, the Labour Party supporter who Brown’s spin doctors had steered in his direction during the 2010 general election? She asked some questions about pensions and third level fees, but it turned into a disaster when someone forgot to remove Brown’s microphone when he got back into his car.

He proceeded to attack the voter, calling her a ‘bigoted woman’ adding, ‘that was a disaster, they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Ridiculous’.

He had to scurry around to her house hours later to grovel and apologise.

It was the end of Brown’s career. The Tories have been in Downing Street ever since.

One of the most bizarre post budget PR stunts was the appearance by the Taoiseach and his Minister for Finance in Facebook HQ for a live interview.

Rare enough to get these two very busy men together the day after the budget, but made worse by the inane series of questions and the absence of an opposition voice. The two most powerful men in Ireland looked very relaxed in their open necked shirts, sipping from their Ballygowan bottles, but the whole interview felt like spin to me.

The Republic of Opportunity cheerleaders were never put under pressure to justify the fact that they deemed it adequate in their budget to give a €1 weekly increase to anyone getting up early in the morning and earning between €20,000 and €30,000 a year.

Which is a pity because they are well able to handle tough questions, and our democracy depends on their being asked them.

In one of his more candid interviews during the week, Paschal Donohoe described one Government policy penalising working women as ‘bonkers’. That is straight talking that should be followed by action.