But that's not really what concerns me. What gets me is the number of Labour and Lib Dem supporters who have laughed at the silly old woman who's mentioned Eastern European immigration and therefore must be a bigot. The number that have commented they would have said the same thing in Brown's shoes.
Never mind the fact that she questioned Brown over his introduction of tuition fees to university education; what he would do to help elderly people; the national debt; her 30 years of council work; her basic mistrust in politicians' promises; that her three priorities, drummed into her as a child, were education, the NHS and looking after vulnerable people.
This woman is not a bigot.
She is concerned. She is worried. She wants her questions answered and all she gets from the liberal establishment is ridicule. No-one addresses questions about immigration; no-one addresses questions about benefits. We just laugh at the poor, uninformed, stupid Northerner.
Demonising anyone who dares question the wisdom of unchecked immigration from the EU is ridiculous, and labelling anyone who does so as a bigot is entirely counter-productive. We refuse to debate with them, we look down and sneer at them, and when we do that, they turn away from our superior attitude and intellectual snobbery.
They think: no-one cares. They think I'm stupid. Well I'm going to vote for someone who doesn't think I'm stupid - someone who's willing to address what I think of as a problem.
If there's anything that has really contributed to the rise of UKIP and the BNP, it's this attitude. Anyone who aspires to take office must recognise the difference between racism, xenophobia and concern. It is possible to be concerned about the state of immigration into this - or any other - country without being a racist or a bigot. It is possible to wonder what the effect of millions of people coming here is. In fact it should be examined and questioned. What the outcome is, I wouldn't know. But asking the question, without prejudice - why is that so bad?
