London: Amidst public ire over the expenses scandal, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that the perception that politicians were corrupt was hurtful, but insisted that he had 'very little money'.
Buffeted by the expenses scandal and dwindling ratings before the mid-2010 general elections, Brown said in an interview to the GQ magazine that the timing of the expenses
scandal could not have been worse.
He said, "I have never tried to make any money out of being a politician. The timing could not have been worse.
People were doubly angry because they were suffering financially themselves."
Brown added, "It's very expensive being prime minister. I gave up my prime ministerial pension that would be worth around 2 million pounds, but on my first day in office I gave
it up. And my salary is frozen. And I don't want our ministers to take any rise in salaries either."
Brown, who described himself as a "shy by nature rather than extrovert", said he wanted to be involved in charitable work when he left office, rather than go on lecture tours. His
predecessor, Tony Blair, has a busy lecture schedule after resigning as prime minister.
Brown agreed with the interviewer that he needs to present himself better in this age of television-driven politics. But he insisted that Labour could win the next general elections under his leadership.
Brown said, "I can't change in the way you're asking me to. I accept I have to do better in the presentation area. I've got my strengths and I've got my weaknesses." He listed
his strengths as making big decisions and that he is not afraid of 'breaking new ground'.
He said, "I could present our message a lot better, I'm actually shy by nature rather than extrovert, someone who feels that your actions should speak for themselves, but
that's not the way politics works these days."
Asked how he wanted history to judge him, Brown said, "That he stood up for fairness, and tried to ensure that people got a fair deal."
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 14:37