Prime Minister Gordon Brown merely represented his class in dismissing Mrs Duffy as a bigot

Every political election suffers a gaffe by one or other politician. A gaffe can be minor, causing discomfort and embarrassment to the gaffer and high amusement for the general public, or it can be far more serious, revealing attitudes that many in the electorate find unacceptable. When Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed an ordinary woman as a bigot for questioning the immigration policies of the Labor Government he was virtually dismissing a great chunk of the British electorate as bigots. Worse, he was telling them that their views on immigration to Britain were not worth considering - and they would not be considered.

Whether or not Brown is right about people who deviate from Labor Party opinion on immigration, the reality is that he could hardly have said anything more damaging to the chances of the Labor Party being re-elected. The comment was a torpedo that has likely sunk the Labor Party in the 2010 elections.

On ABC's News Breakfast show this morning one commentator in Britain said that immigration was the one subject that was on the minds of most Britains and that the major parties would not discuss it. We all know the reason. The moment anyone raises the question of immigration in any of the West's democracies, the dominant political class - the class Labor/leftist governments represent - will jump on them from a great height with the accusation of racism. Nobody can wear the accusation of racism no matter how vigorous or cogent the reasons showing the charge unfounded. Put a statement about certain peoples together with immigration and you immediately get racism, racism only white peoples are guilty of.

Conservative political parties who usually are in sympathy with the concerns the ordinary person has about the seemingly unstoppable flow of peoples from Third World countries into the West are reluctant to give out their true position because the dominant class with its grip on the West's institutions - a grip that is not electorally accountable - will use it against them. The experiences of Holland's Geert Wilders are not lost on them, even though one could not consider Wilder's Partij Voor Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) strictly a conservative party.

Labor and leftist governments will not talk about it because they know the electoral damage suffered if they tell the electorate what they really think about them and immigration.

It is a situation of political paralysis.

Comment: gerard@gerardcharleswilson.com